Books or Bombs?

"Kim Trudell, from Marblehead, Massachusetts, had lost her husband, Frederick Rimmele, when on his way to a medical conference in California on September 11, his flight, United Airlines 175, vaporized in a cloud of jet fuel against the south tower of the World Trade Center. Trudell asked Mortenson to carry her husband's medical books to Kabul, believing education was the key to resolving the crisis with militant Islam." ~ Three Cups of Tea, p.287

"A Republican congressman from California interrupted Mortenson in midsentence, challenging him. 'Building schools for kids is just fine and dandy,' Mortenson remembers the congressman saying. 'But our primary need as a nation now is security. Without security, what does all this matter?'" ~ Three cups of Tea, p. 292

Who elected that guy?

When I Die

"I want to be used up when I die" ~ Three Cups of Tea p.286

Whose side is God on?

"In times of war, you often hear leaders-Christian, Jewish, and Muslim-saying, 'God is on our side'. But that isn't true. In war, God is on the side of refugees, widows, and orphans." Greg Mortneson, Three Cups of Tea p.239

Why Educate Girls?

"Once you educate boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities," Mortenson explains. "But girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they've learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls." Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea p.209

Three Cups of Tea

"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die." Haji Ali, Three Cups of Tea p. 150

"That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortenson says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects." Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea p.150

Our Responsibility

"Slowly and painfully, we are seeing worldwide acceptance of the fact that the wealthier and more technologically advanced countries have a responsibility to help the undeveloped ones. Not only through a sense of charity, but also because only in this way can we ever hope to see any permanent peace and security for ourselves." Sir Edmund Hillary, Schoolhouse in the Clouds