The sentence had tripped off the man's tongue like he'd been saying it all his life.

"Say yes more," he'd said.

"Say yes more," I'd repeated. Three little words of such power.

"The people without passion are the ones who always say no," he'd said moments before, and I'd turned, stunned, to listen.

"But, the happiest people are the one's who understand that good things occur when one allows them to."

And that was that.

• Soundclamp
• May 3, 2009
• Yes Man
• Page 13
• Reply

"I mean to speak to you man to man. Do you think you can handle that for once?"

"Yes, Baba jan," I muttered, marveling, not for the first time, at how badly Baba could sting me with so few words. We'd had a fleeting good moment—it wasn't often Baba talked to me, let alone on his lap—and I'd been a fool to waste it.

"Good," Baba said, but his eyes wondered. "Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?"

"No, Baba jan," I said, desperately wishing I did. I didn't want to disappoint him again.

"When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When ...

• Soundclamp
• March 15, 2009
• The Kite Runner
• Page 17
• Reply