Laila Quotes

Then I think of all the tricks, all the minutes all the hours and days and weeks and months and years waiting for me. All of it without them. And I can't breathe then, like someone's stepping on my heart, Laila. So weak I just want to collapse somewhere. ~ Khaled Hosseini

The universe had an odd sense of fairness; it took away things one did not want to give up, and then gave things one did not ask for. ~ Laila Lalami

He, too, wanted to tell the story of our adventure in his own way. Praise ~ Laila Lalami

I was never offended that people underestimated me because of my appearance or that they thought I was pretty and discouraged me from fighting because they didn't want me to risk hurting my looks. ~ Laila Ali

Laila watches Mariam glue strands of yarn onto her doll's head. In a few years, this little girl will be a woman who will make small demands on life, who will never burden others, who will never let on that she too had sorrows, disappointments, dreams that have been ridiculed. A woman who will be like a rock in a riverbed, enduring without complaint, her grace not sullied but shaped by the turbulence that washes over her. Already Laila sees something behind this young girl's eyes, something deep in her core, that neither Rasheed nor the Taliban will be able to break. something as hard and unyielding as a block of limestone. Something that, in the end, will be her undoing and Laila's salvation.
The little girl looks up. Puts the doll down. Smiles. ~ Khaled Hosseini

Perhaps memory is not merely the preservation of a moment in the mind, but the process of repeatedly returning to it, carefully breaking it up in parts and assembling them again until we can make sense of what we remember. ~ Laila Lalami

There are things far more valuable than private comfort or public admiration. ~ Laila Lalami

I'm Muhammad Ali's daughter, but my father and I are very different in that area. I don't necessarily try to put on a show. That's what my father's thing was, and he was great at it. Everything I say is because I feel it, and it comes out of my mouth. It's not scripted. ~ Laila Ali

Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. ~ Laila Ali

She had this laugh. I swear it's why I married her, Laila, for that laugh! It bulldozed you. You stood no chance against it. ~ Khaled Hosseini

I was like a ten-year-old kid who had been scraped off a mother's love so sudden and surreal that I kept hoping I could chant a few magical words and slowly, Mama Jas would materialise in front of me. ~ Diyar Harraz

Sometimes if you don't physically attempt something, you don't realize how sick to your stomach or how hard it is. ~ Laila Ali

Immigration, a lexicon. You're a 'migrant' when you're very poor; 'immigrant' when you're not so poor; and 'expat' when you're rich. ~ Laila Lalami

A lot of my training is in classical theatre; I've done a lot of classical plays in New York and also at the Guthrie and here and there across the country. ~ Laila Robins

Then Mattie journeyed away from her home toward freedom and her family, leaving behind the bones of generations of her ancestors and their captors ~ Laila Ibrahim

Laila And The Khalifa

The Khalifa said to Laila,
"Art thou really she
For whom Majnun lost his head
and went distracted?
Thou art not fairer than many
other fair ones."
She replied, "Be silent;
thou art not Majnun!"


If thou hadst Majnun's eyes,
The two worlds would be within thy view.
Thou art in thy senses, but Majnun is beside himself.
In love to be wide awake is treason.
The more a man is awake, the more he sleeps (to love);
His (critical) wakefulness is worse than slumbering.


Our wakefulness fetters our spirits,
Then our souls are a prey to divers whims,
Thoughts of loss and gain and fears of misery.
They retain not purity, nor dignity, nor lustre,
Nor aspiration to soar heavenwards.
That one is really sleeping who hankers after each whim
And holds parley with each fancy. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi

I do it for the girls."

"What girls?"

He smirked. "They think it's sexy."

"It's not."

"No?"

"I assure you."

"Not sexy?"

"You look khila, like a half-wit."

"That hurts," he said.

"What girls anyway?"

"You're jealous."

"I'm indifferently curious."

"You can't be both." He took another drag and squinted through the smoke. "I'll bet they're talking about us now."

In Laila's head, Mammy's voice rang out. Like a mynah bird in your hands. Slacken your grip and away it flies. Guilt bore its teeth into her. Then Laila shut off Mammy's voice. Instead, she savored the way Tariq had said us. How thrilling, how conspiratorial, it sounded coming from him. And how reassuring to hear him say it like that - casually, naturally. Us. It acknowledged their connection, crystallized it.

"And what are they saying?"

"That we're canoeing down the River of Sin," he said.

"Eating a slice of Impiety Cake."

"Riding the Rickshaw of Wickedness?" Laila chimed in.

"Making Sacrilege Qurma."

They both laughed. Then Tariq remarked that her hair was getting longer. "It's nice," he said.

Laila hoped she wasn't blushing. "You changed the subject."

"From what?"

"The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy."

"You know."

"Know what?"

"That I only ~ Khaled Hosseini

I never saw my mother again, but I carried her with me always. ~ Laila Ibrahim

The divine thoughts comes from God, we are only vessel for its transmission. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

I'd rather do a great play than a mediocre play in New York. As much as I'd like to be seen in New York, that's not my driving motivation. My motivation is to play great roles, wherever they happen. ~ Laila Robins

Maybe if I completely shaved my head and get the frost out of my moustache, maybe I could get one of those serious acting jobs. ~ Laila Ali

Duke says, "Pause," and the movie goes quiet. "What did Laila say? ~ Kasie West

I am Laila, of the night. I have walked through godlight and through darkness. I have fought demons and I have slain angels. I am Laila, of the shadows. I have hidden and run, and I have stood up and striven. I am Laila, of tears and blood, of sins and of piety. I am Laila, outcast from Hell, banished from Heaven. I am alone, in darkness. I am Laila, of light and of fire. I am fallen. I rise again. ~ Daniel Arenson

Addie," Laila says, feigning concern and jumping down next to me. "Did you get hurt? What happened? ~ Kasie West

Do not allow a gentleman to overhear you speaking about courtship, literature, or politics. ~ Laila Ibrahim

Laila Lalami has fashioned an absorbing story of one of the first encounters between Spanish conquistadores and Native Americans, a frightening, brutal, and much-falsified history that here, in her brilliantly imagined fiction, is rewritten to give us something that feels very like the truth. ~ Salman Rushdie

I never ran with my dad. He was old-school. He had a whole different idea of training. He ran in steel-toed boots! But, of course, he's proud of me and proud of the boxer that I became. ~ Laila Ali

Because I was from the Midwest and untrained, I was completely open and ready to try anything. Many of my classmates were cynical and jaded; some already had conservatory training, and they were there simply to get that Yale stamp of approval, which they saw as a career stepping-stone. ~ Laila Robins

Authenticity is very important - be true to one's self. ~ Laila Ali

I did nine months in 'Mrs. Klein' in New York, then four months on the road. Then I did a movie directed by Philip Haas, who did 'Angels & Insects'. We shot 'The Blood Oranges' in Mexico for six weeks. ~ Laila Robins

You heard me, Laila. He broke up with Meri, and now, wants me back. I told him to go fuck himself."
She smiles at me with pride. "That's my bitch." We click our bottles and swig a large mouthful. ~ Dora Sky

Most people, by the time they get old, have grown tough little shells around their hearts. Babies, like little Laila, start off with tender, loving, trusting hearts, but gradually, gradually, they learn to protect themselves and, as the years go by, grow tougher and tougher layers. Look at this! The outside layers of the artichoke are so tough they aren't even worth eating but they become more and more tender as you come closer to the heart. These tough outer layers stop you feeling so much, so people walk around with hard little hearts that no one can touch. Of course there are some people who don't have a choice – they just never learn to protect themselves...now that can be both a blessing and a burden. ~ Sita Brahmachari

Do you care for any contemporary authors?" Matthew inquired. "I adore Jane Austen." Matthew nodded. "I find her portrait of British society so accurate and yet so dreadful." "I agree. It must be awful to be so bound by what society expects," Lisbeth answered. "I am so glad to have been born in America, where one has freedom. ~ Laila Ibrahim

Adversity is awakening of spirit. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

I'm private in the sense that I like my personal space and only want people in the parts of my business that I choose to share. Anything I feel is too personal to share publicly, I keep to myself. ~ Laila Ali

I am thrilled and honored to have a seat at the table for meaningful conversation with so many accomplished women in the sports world. ~ Laila Ali

speak to young men about the weather, meals, clothing, and their relatives. Avoid conversation concerning politics, finance, or religion. Though a gentleman may bring up such topics, and a lady must follow where a gentleman leads, a skilled lady will return the conversation to an appropriate topic. ~ Laila Ibrahim

People who are fit are the same as anyone else. The only difference is their level of commitment. If looking good and being fit was easy, everyone would do it! Most people don't want to put in the work or make the sacrifices needed in order to be fit. ~ Laila Ali

That summer, Titanic fever gripped Kabul. People smuggled pirated copies of the film from Pakistan- sometimes in their underwear. After curfew, everyone locked their doors, turned out the lights, turned down the volume, and reaped tears for Jack and Rose and the passengers of the doomed ship. If there was electrical power, Mariam, Laila, and the children watched it too. A dozen times or more, they unearthed the TV from behind the tool-shed, late at night, with the lights out and quilts pinned over the windows.
At the Kabul River, vendors moved into the parched riverbed. Soon, from the river's sunbaked hollows, it was possible to buy Titanic carpets, and Titanic cloth, from bolts arranged in wheelbarrows. There was Titanic deodorant, Titanic toothpaste, Titanic perfume, Titanic pakora, even Titanic burqas. A particularly persistent beggar began calling himself "Titanic Beggar."
"Titanic City" was born.

It's the song, they said.
No, the sea. The luxury. The ship.
It's the sex, they whispered.
Leo, said Aziza sheepishly. It's all about Leo.
"Everybody wants Jack," Laila said to Mariam. "That's what it is. Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is no Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead. ~ Khaled Hosseini

I was preoccupied only with the price of things and neglected to consider their value. ~ Laila Lalami

That was fantastic," Alvarez said. "I want to do it again. Next year, maybe, when my legs grow back." "Stop being such a baby," Laila said. "Ignore her," Alvarez said to Neil. "She's just sour because she lost nine goals in forty-five minutes. Don't know why, not like it's a new personal record or - ohhh, it is. Ouch, that's gotta sting a bit. So much for being first-draft. ~ Nora Sakavic

Mammy was soon asleep, leaving Laila with dueling emotions: reassured that Mammy meant to live on, stung that she was not the reason. She would never leave her mark on Mammy's heart the way her brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed. ~ Khaled Hosseini

I love engaging in conversation with other moms because we can relate to one another, and we swap valuable insight and information. ~ Laila Ali

In the middle of the night, when Laila woke up thirsty, she found their hands still clamped together, in the white-knuckle, anxious way of children clutching balloon strings. ~ Khaled Hosseini

We do not know our fate. This may be a forever goodbye; it may only be for years. My love for you will never waver, however long or however far. ~ Laila Ibrahim

You miss Azemmur, she said.
Yes, I said. And I have grown so used to the pain of missing it that sometimes I feel as though I have learnt to walk after an imputation. But now, Oyomasot, it is as if I can sense that severed limb again. ~ Laila Lalami

Telling a story is like sowing a seed - you always hope to see it become a beautiful tree, with firm roots and branches that soar up in the sky. But it is a peculiar sowing, for you will never know whether your seed sprouts or dies. ~ Laila Lalami

I wasn't in shape at all before I decided to do boxing. I wasn't an athlete. Before boxing, I would go to the gym for a month and stop. ~ Laila Ali

You're not going to cry, are you?
- I am not going to cry! Not over you. Not in a thousand years. ~ Khaled Hosseini

I have cravings all the time, even when I'm not pregnant. ~ Laila Ali

You have to fight for your health and stay on top of it. Our bodies are meant to be healthy. ~ Laila Ali

I could just felt the twinge of resentment with her being there, where my mother was supposed to be. What right did she have, to replace that place? ~ Diyar Harraz

It's disgusting to kill, Laila. You never get rid of death's grease. It doesn't wash away. ~ Erri De Luca

...As with many American conversations, the words he spoke had not conveyed what he had intended by them. He could never decide if it was his English, his actual use of language, or if it was because people didn't really listen and instead put into the words they heard the words they expected to hear. ~ Laila Halaby

Though the room was nearly dark, whatever light clung to its corners now raced to illuminate Laila. It seemed the world couldn't help but want to be near her...every bean of light, pair of eyes, atom of air. Maybe that's why sometimes he couldn't breathe around her. ~ Roshani Chokshi

I want to work with Cherry Jones. ~ Laila Robins

It will seem impossible to take the first step. But on the second step, since you already did one, you know you can take another. Then another and another. Before long you will have walked into your new life. ~ Laila Ibrahim

Often I play, especially on television, a lot of smart lawyer people and cerebral types. ~ Laila Robins

My dad lived by example. I lived by watching him. I watched all the great things he did and said. I try to walk that talk for my children. ~ Laila Ali

Maybe talking's just not your thing," Emily said gently, suddenly acutely aware of his discomfort. "Maybe it's screaming or kicking things or... splattering paint against a wall or fucking, or I don't know - any of a million things. ~ Laila Blake

In some ways, I think it's the closest that we come to the truth - is in the form of fiction. ~ Laila Lalami

I don't really try to tell people whether they should fight. It's definitely not for everybody. ~ Laila Ali

Mammy had a point.
What rankled Laila was that Mammy hadn't earned the right to make it. It would have been one thing if Babi had raised this issue. But Mammy? All those years of aloofness, of cooping herself up and not caring where Laila went and whom she saw and what she thought ... It was unfair. Laila felt like she was no better than these pots and pans, something that could go neglected, then laid claim to, at will, whenever the mood struck. ~ Khaled Hosseini

Name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world. ~ Laila Lalami

I'm not one of those women who's like pro women. I'm an individual, and I'm in an individual sport. So I see everyone as individuals, not as male or female. ~ Laila Ali

I think that if you do want to be a fighter, then you need to work harder than everybody else and make sure that you surround yourself with good people, especially if you're a woman. You've got to find a team that takes you seriously as a female fighter and is not going to rush you into the ring before you're ready. ~ Laila Ali

A lot of times you come against actors who come from a different direction, and you tend to meet in the middle. ~ Laila Robins

This is as true a story as has ever been told: the story of my love for Mattie, and, I suppose, her love for me in return. ~ Laila Ibrahim

There was a long silence, during which Father Marco's thoughts finally drifted from the matter of wealth to the matter of God - few minds can entertain both subjects at once. ~ Laila Lalami

Not just change... Change for the better ~ Laila Salti

No lies are more seductive than the ones we use to console ourselves. ~ Laila Lalami

I was a thirty-eight-year-old man, so I had plenty of time to consider the world through the eyes of someone else: yet that someone had rarely been a woman. ~ Laila Lalami

Nine-year-old Laila rose from bed, as she did most mornings, hungry for the sight of her friend Tariq. This morning, however, she knew there would be no Tariq sighting.
- How long will you be gone? - She'd asked when Tariq had told her that his parents were
taking him south, to the city of Ghazni, to visit his paternal uncle.
- Thirteen days
- Thirteen days?
- It's not so long. You're making a face, Laila.
- I am not.
- You're not going to cry, are you?
- I am not going to cry! Not over you. Not in a thousand years.
She'd kicked at his shin, not his artificial but his real one, and he'd playfully whacked
the back of her head.
Thirteen days. Almost two weeks. And, just five days in, Laila had learned a fundamental truth about time: Like the accordion on which Tariq's father sometimes played old Pashto songs, time stretched and contracted depending on Tariq's absence or presence. ~ Khaled Hosseini

Growing up in this town, I had long ago learned that the savagery of a man named Mohammed was rarely questioned, but his humanity always had to be proven. ~ Laila Lalami

It's funny, oftentimes the really great roles that I enjoy are in classic plays, and there aren't many theatres in New York who will do them, aside from Roundabout. ~ Laila Robins

Oh and P.S.? I am in dire need of more coffee. Industrial strength."
"But we're going to sleep soon," I say.
"I know." Laila shudders. "Addiction is a bitch. ~ Susane Colasanti

That's always a fun thing to play, a relationship where there's equals. I often play roles that are repressive, or women who are slightly repressed or having some kind of internal conflict. ~ Laila Robins

Focus on being balanced - success is balance. ~ Laila Ali

I feel very close to Maryann Plunkett and Jay O. Sanders. ~ Laila Robins

Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present. ~ Laila Lalami

Just by saying something was so, they believed that it was. I know know that these conquerors, like many before them, and no doubt like others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it. ~ Laila Lalami

It has always been a dream of mine to put a play on film. ~ Laila Robins

That night, Zalmai wakes up coughing. Before Laila can move, Tariq swings his legs over the side of the bed. He straps on his prosthesis and walks over to Zalmai, lifts him up into his arms. From the bed, Laila watches Tariq's shape moving back and forth in the darkness. She sees the outline of Zalmai's head on his shoulder, the knot of his hands at Tariq's neck, his small feet bouncing by Tariq's hip.
When Tariq comes back to bed, neither of them says anything. Laila reaches over and touches his face. Tariq's cheeks are wet. ~ Khaled Hosseini

From what?" "The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy." "You know." "Know what?" "That I only have eyes for you." Laila ~ Khaled Hosseini

But life should not be traded for gold - a simple lesson, which I had had to learn twice. ~ Laila Lalami

Tennessee Williams is an incredible writer for women because, in many ways, his women characters are him. He writes so passionately. ~ Laila Robins

By being an athlete, I have uncovered so many other ways to express my beauty. Being a strong, fearless woman makes me feel beautiful. I love the way I look and feel when I am two hours into my training and my skin is glistening with sweat and my clothes are drenched because I have given it all I've got. ~ Laila Ali

I've paid my dues in the classical trenches. ~ Laila Robins

All fighters run. The constant motion prepares you for being in the ring. And running strengthens your legs. Punching power comes from your lower body. ~ Laila Ali

He warned me that trade would open the door to greed and greed was an inconsiderate guest; it would bring its evil relations with it. ~ Laila Lalami

Compassion is nothing to be ashamed of ~ Laila Ibrahim

Her beauty was the talk of the valley.It skipped two generations of women in our family, but it sure didn't bypass you, Laila. ~ Khaled Hosseini

He's a boy, you see, and, as such, what does he care about reputation? But you? The reputation of a girl, especially one as pretty as you, is a delicate thing, Laila. Like a mynah bird in your hands. Slacken your grip and away it flies.
Fariba to her daughter Laila ~ Khaled Hosseini

Running is my time for myself. I'm like, 'I'm going for a run!' and my husband knows I'm out of there. ~ Laila Ali

Laila sees something behind this young girl's eyes, something deep in her core, that neither Rasheed nor the Taliban will be able to break. something as hard and unyielding as a block of limestone. Something that, in the end, will be her undoing and Laila's salvation. ~ Khaled Hosseini

I was one of those people who wasn't getting a lot of milk, so I had to pump forever to just get two ounces of milk. But, you know, I wasn't going to give up or stop. ~ Laila Ali

Dwell on the beauty of sacred-existence. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

The only place you'll find a map of Blackcliff," a raspy voice intrudes, "is in the Commandant's head. And I don't think you want to go rummaging around in there. ~ Sabaa Tahir

Walter, my first wife, Laila, used to throw around a quote. I don't know who said it first, but it went something like, 'If men menstruated, there would floating federal holidays for them. ~ Seth Kaufman

Rumi said: Whoever is loved is beautiful, but this doesn't mean that whoever is beautiful is loved.

"There are girls more beautiful than Laila,"they used to tell Majnun. "Let us bring some to you."

"I do not love Laila for her form," Majnun would reply. "Laila is like a cup in my hand. I drink wine from that cup. I am in love with that wine. You only have eyes for the goblet and do not know the wine. A golden goblet studded with precious stones, but containing only vinegar, what use is that to me? An old broken gourd with wine is better in my eyes than a hundred goblets of gold. ~ Rumi