--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: that love was a damaging mistake, and its…" description: "\"“that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/khaled-hosseini-251_failure_that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-and-its_2354558.png" --- # that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice… ![“that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold.” quote by Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/khaled-hosseini-251_failure_that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-and-its_2354558.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/khaled-hosseini-251_failure_that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-and-its_2354558.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/khaled-hosseini-251_failure_that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-and-its_2354558.png) > ““that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold.”” [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. Love and hope can become harmful when they persist in a barren emotional landscape, and removing them may be necessary for survival. **In simple terms:** Love and hope can be toxic; removing them can protect you. Key Takeaway Recognize and discard toxic attachments. Themes love hope toxic relationships survival self‑preservation Mood melancholy reflective determined Type literary philosophical cautionary When to use this quote - breakup recovery - escaping abusive relationships - personal growth - mental health healing Key Concepts psychology emotional resilience betrayal Questions to Reflect On - What emotions keep you attached to harmful relationships? - How can you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Hope can also inspire positive change; discarding it may lead to isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Field Mariam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/field-mariam-2779030/) [Flowers Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers-began-2779029/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mariam Uprooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mariam-uprooted-1522419/) [Poisonous Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poisonous-flowers-1522420/) [Uprooted Ditched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uprooted-ditched-1522421/) ## Related quotes > [“There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/there-the-future-did-not-matter-and-the-past-held-only-this-wisdom/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/and-the-past-held-only-this-wisdom-that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-2/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“...is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude. And stretch towards the heaven their long and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/is-a-pale-desert-of-gigantic-water-lilies-they-sigh-one-unto-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Vase \[Why weep Come back tomorrow There are also poisonous flowers and flowers always open in the evening she loves the cinema she has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-apollinaire/vase-why-weep-come-back-tomorrow-there-are-also-poisonous-flowers-and/) [Guillaume Apollinaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-apollinaire/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) ## 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. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-think-that-everything-he-did-feeding-the-poor-giving-money-to/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“it always falls on the sober to pay for the sins of the drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/it-always-falls-on-the-sober-to-pay-for-the-sins-of-the-drunk/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Mariam knew that life for the most part had been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/mariam-knew-that-life-for-the-most-part-had-been-unkind-to-her-but-as/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“I pray. 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 Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. 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