“No. The smile had left Sarahs voice. He still works for the Basij. Beware of weak men, little sister. He never returned to help, not even to express condolences for Father. Find a strong man. Get a...”

“Being articulate is no guarantee of intelligence, Zoe said. Im not doubting the value of education. Im doubting its reach. Highly educated politicians still do stupid things. Anthony Weiner was edu...”

“Zoe stopped one last time in front of the mirror, adjusting her new American dress. She didnt see the dress, however. She saw what the big Russian did to her. She saw what al-Qaeda did to her. She ...”

“Zoe did what civilized people do when they freak out: she drank tea. She had walked from her little bungalow to Coffee & Tea. It was always filled with the well-educated, the complicated, the peopl...”

“Saul had gained his six-foot frame at sixteen, but his muscles didnt arrive until his early twenties. Between those lost years, he was a gangly, uncoordinated klutz. He was told that he could impro...”

“Zoe leaned closer to Ruth, nearly nose to nose. If they were made from better stuff, they would have pretended the fault was theirs. They would have made a moment of it--a pretty moment.”

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.”

“If you need something from somebody always give that person a way to hand it to you.”

“Getting my legal situation fixed takes a bit longer than we all thought: twelve years to be exact. Not a big deal. Only most of my life.”

“For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.”

“Also for there had been more than a few migrants aboard, yes, quite a quantity of wives who had been grilled by reasonable, doing-their-job officials about the length of and distinguishing moles u...”

“We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war.”

“youre already naked in this worldin this timein this lifebeacause your next loveyour next hungeryou next laughterand even your next tearmay never come”

“Negotiations with Iran, especially, will not be easy under any circumstances, but I suspect that they might be somewhat less difficult if the nuclear-weapon states could show that their requests ar...”