--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In Kabul, hot running water had been like…" description: "\"In Kabul, hot running water had been like fathers, a rare commodity.\" — Khaled Hosseini" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/khaled-hosseini-251_commodity_in-kabul-hot-running-water-had-been-like_321353.png" --- # In Kabul, hot running water had been like fathers, a rare… ![“In Kabul, hot running water had been like fathers, a rare commodity.” quote by Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/khaled-hosseini-251_commodity_in-kabul-hot-running-water-had-been-like_321353.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/khaled-hosseini-251_commodity_in-kabul-hot-running-water-had-been-like_321353.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/khaled-hosseini-251_commodity_in-kabul-hot-running-water-had-been-like_321353.png) > “In Kabul, hot running water had been like fathers, a rare commodity.” [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In war‑torn Kabul, clean water is as scarce as a caring father, highlighting basic needs and familial loss. **In simple terms:** Water is rare, like a father. Key Takeaway Recognize and address essential needs. Themes scarcity family war basic needs Mood somber reflective Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - refugee camps - urban reconstruction - public health initiatives Key Concepts humanitarian crisis resource inequality Questions to Reflect On - How does scarcity affect family dynamics? - What can be done to improve water access? A Different Perspective Even rare resources can be overlooked in crisis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Kabul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kabul/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“Winter was every kid’s favorite season in Kabul, at least those whose fathers could afford to buy a good iron stove. The reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/winter-was-every-kid-s-favorite-season-in-kabul-at-least-those-whose/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Kabul is... a thousand tragedies per square mile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/kabul-is-a-thousand-tragedies-per-square-mile/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [ “In the passenger seat, Nahil is all questions. Was Kabul safe? How was the food? Did he \[Idris\] get sick? Did he take pictures… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/in-the-passenger-seat-nahil-is-all-questions-was-kabul-safe-how-was/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I experienced Kabul with my brother the way Amir and Hassan do: long school days in the summer, kite fighting in the winter time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-experienced-kabul-with-my-brother-the-way-amir-and-hassan-do-long/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I came from an educated, upper middle-class family. My mother was a Persian and history teacher at a large high school for girls. Many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-came-from-an-educated-upper-middle-class-family-my-mother-was-a/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/my-memories-of-kabul-are-vastly-different-than-the-way-it-is-when-i/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I returned to Kabul after a 27-year absence. I came away with some optimism but not as much as I had hoped for. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-returned-to-kabul-after-a-27-year-absence-i-came-away-with-some/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“I know what I said earlier, but Kabul isn’t that bad.” Mrs. Wahdati toyed with her necklace absently. She was looking out the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-know-what-i-said-earlier-but-kabul-isn-t-that-bad-mrs-wahdati-toyed/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I wanted to tell them that, in Kabul, we snapped a tree branch and used it as a credit card. Hassan and I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-wanted-to-tell-them-that-in-kabul-we-snapped-a-tree-branch-and-used/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Kabul is . . .” Idris searches for the right words. “A thousand tragedies per square mile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/kabul-is-idris-searches-for-the-right-words-a-thousand-tragedies-per/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Afghanistan has always been sort of a fractured nation, very tribal, where the countryside and the distant provinces have been run by custom, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/afghanistan-has-always-been-sort-of-a-fractured-nation-very-tribal/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“war. Or, rather, wars. Not one, not two, but many wars, both big and small, just and unjust, wars with shifting casts of supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/war-or-rather-wars-not-one-not-two-but-many-wars-both-big-and-small/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“I looked westward and marveled that, somewhere over those mountains, Kabul still existed. It really existed, not just as an old memory, or as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-looked-westward-and-marveled-that-somewhere-over-those-mountains/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I believe Fabio Celoni's work vividly brings to life not only the mountains, the bazaars, the city of Kabul and its kite-dotted skies, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-believe-fabio-celoni-s-work-vividly-brings-to-life-not-only-the/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [You have extreme poverty and high crime and you have to admit that the governance of the Kabul regime has been poor and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/you-have-extreme-poverty-and-high-crime-and-you-have-to-admit-that/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) ## More by Khaled Hosseini > [“Winter was every kid’s favorite season in Kabul, at least those whose fathers could afford to buy a good iron stove. The reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/winter-was-every-kid-s-favorite-season-in-kabul-at-least-those-whose/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Their fights didn’t so much end as dissipate, like a drop of ink in a bowl of water, with a residual taint that lingered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/their-fights-didn-t-so-much-end-as-dissipate-like-a-drop-of-ink-in-a/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“I think that everything he did, feeding the poor, giving money to friends in need, it was all a way of redeeming himself. 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I pray that my sins have not caught up with me the way I'd always feared they would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-pray-i-pray-that-my-sins-have-not-caught-up-with-me-the-way-i-d/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“shoes: that putting them on a bed invited death into the family, that a quarrel would follow if one put on the left shoe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/shoes-that-putting-them-on-a-bed-invited-death-into-the-family-that-a/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it's that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it's going to work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-have-a-theory-about-marriage-monsieur-boustouler-and-it-s-that/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don't like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/the-short-of-it-is-as-an-aspiring-writer-there-is-nothing-as-damaging/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [At that moment, she cannot think of a more reckless, irrational thing than choosing to become a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/at-that-moment-she-cannot-think-of-a-more-reckless-irrational-thing/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“He says this is war. There is no shame in war. Tell him he's wrong. War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/he-says-this-is-war-there-is-no-shame-in-war-tell-him-he-s-wrong-war/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [For many people in the west, Afghanistan is synonymous with the Soviet war and the Taliban. I wanted to remind people that Afghans had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/for-many-people-in-the-west-afghanistan-is-synonymous-with-the-soviet/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Educate yourself, learn about what refugees face when they don't have homes, after they have lost everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/educate-yourself-learn-about-what-refugees-face-when-they-don-t-have/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Rahim Khan laughed. “Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/rahim-khan-laughed-children-aren-t-coloring-books-you-don-t-get-to/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) [Explore all 697 Khaled Hosseini quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) ## More Commodity quotes > [We do not claim that punning is legitimate wit. Wit consists in combination of ideas, punning in combination of words only. 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