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Description
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who,... read more
Important People
- Greg Mortenson: Author, humanitarian, co-founder of the Central Asia Institute and founder of Pennies for Peace.
- Haji Ali: Add a description of this character.
- Jean Hoerni
- Twaha
- Mouzafer Ali
- Tara Bishop
- George McCown
- Faisal Baig
- Changazi
- Christa: Greg Mortenson's sister.
- Ghulam Parvi
- Abdullah Rahman
- Sakina
Memorable Quotes
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“The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest”
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“There are millions of land mines buried all over Afghanistan, left there by armies after years and years of war”
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“Well, you're thirty-one and you've kissed a lot of toads”
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“"With all respect, Sahib, you have little to teach us in strength and toughness. And we don't envy you your restless spirits. Perhaps we are happier than you? But we would like our children to go to school. Of all the things you have, learning is the one we most desire for our children."”
Urkien Sherpa -
“<Edmund> Hillary downplayed his first ascent, saying many others might have beaten him and Tenzing Norgay to Everest's summit. "I was just an enthusiastic mountaineer of modest abilities who was willing to work quite hard and had the necessary imagination and determination," he told the hushed crowd. "I was just an average bloke. It was the media that tried to transform me into a heroic figure. But I've learned through the years, as long as you don't believe all that rubbish about yourself, you can't come to much harm."..."I don't know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything," he heard Hillary say. "I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest. But my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain."”
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“The Balti had a history, a rich tradition, Mortenson realized. The fact that it wasn't written down didn't make it any less real. These faces ringing the fire didn't need to be taught so much as they needed help. And the school was a place where they could help themselves....He might not accomplish much more before returning home to Tara, but during that night of dancing, the school reached critical mass in his mind--it became real to him. He could see the completed building standing before him as clearly as Korphe K2, lit by the waxing moon.”
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“Fatima Batool brushes her shawl and sits up straight at her desk, to tell her visitors one thing more. "I've heard some people say Americans are bad," she says softly. "But we love Americans. They are the most kind people for us. They are the only ones who cared to help us."”
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“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.”
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“I don't do what I'm doing to fight terror, Mortenson said, measuring his words, trying not to get himself kicked out of the Capitol. I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eighth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I've learned a few things. I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.”
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“But working over there, I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.”
Greg Mortenson
First Sentence
In Pakistan's Karakoram, bristling across an area barely one hundred miles wide, more than sixty of the world's tallest mountains lord their severe alpine beauty over a witnessless high-altitude wilderness.
Table of Contents
Introduction - In Mr. Mortenson's Orbit
Chapter 1 - Failure
Chapter 2 - The Wrong Side of the River
Chapter 3 - "Progress and Perfection"
Chapter 4 - Self-Storage
Chapter 5 - 580 Letters, One Check
Chapter 6 - Rawalpindi's Rooftops at Dusk
Chapter 7 - Hard Way Home
Chapter 8 - Beaten by the Braldu
Chapter 9 - The People Have Spoken
Chapter 10 - Building Bridges
Chapter 11 - Six Days
Chapter 12 - Haji Ali's Lesson
Chapter 13 - "A Smile Should be More Than a Memory"
Chapter 14 - Equilibrium
Chapter 15 - Mortenson in Motion
Chapter 16 - Red Velvet Box
Chapter 17 - Cherry Trees in the Sand
Chapter 18 - Shrouded Figure
Chapter 19 - A Village Called New York
Chapter 20 - Tea with the Taliban
Chapter 21 - Rumsfeld's Shoes
Chapter 22 - "The Enemy is Ignorance"
Chapter 23 - Stones into Schools
Acknowledgments
Index
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