--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the book he carefully tears out…" description: "\"“From the book he carefully tears out several maps, and in this light Afghanistan’s mountains and hills and restlessly branching corridors of rock appe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e27/nadeem-aslam-10821_afghanistan_from-the-book-he-carefully-tears-out-sev_1289459.png" --- # From the book he carefully tears out several maps, and in… ![“From the book he carefully tears out several maps, and in this light Afghanistan’s mountains and hills and restlessly branching corridors of rock appear as though the pages are crumpled up, and there is a momentary wish in him to smooth them down. Laser-guided bombs are falling onto the pages in…” quote by Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e27/nadeem-aslam-10821_afghanistan_from-the-book-he-carefully-tears-out-sev_1289459.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e27/nadeem-aslam-10821_afghanistan_from-the-book-he-carefully-tears-out-sev_1289459.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e27/nadeem-aslam-10821_afghanistan_from-the-book-he-carefully-tears-out-sev_1289459.png) > ““From the book he carefully tears out several maps, and in this light Afghanistan’s mountains and hills and restlessly branching corridors of rock appear as though the pages are crumpled up, and there is a momentary wish in him to smooth them down. Laser-guided bombs are falling onto the pages in his hands, missiles summoned from the Arabian Sea, from American warships that are as long as the Empire State Building is tall.”” [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage juxtaposes the delicate act of reading maps with the brutal reality of war, highlighting how conflict shatters imagination and peace. **In simple terms:** War destroys the calm of reading and thinking. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of conflict on everyday life. Themes war conflict imagination destruction Mood somber reflective critical Type literary descriptive metaphorical When to use this quote - reading maps - military strategy - peace activism - journalism - education Key Concepts cartography military aggression psychology literary metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How does art influence our perception of war? - What responsibilities do creators have when depicting conflict? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize war, overlooking civilian suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afghanistan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) [Afghanistan Mountains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan-mountains-4195934/) [American war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-war/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Empire state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-state/) [Empire state building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-state-building/) [Falling Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-pages-4195936/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Light Afghanistan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-afghanistan-4195935/) [Missiles Summoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missiles-summoned-4195937/) ## Related quotes > [“Snow not falling but flying sidewise, and sudden, not signaled by the slow curdling of clouds all day and a flake or two drifting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/snow-not-falling-but-flying-sidewise-and-sudden-not-signaled-by-the/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [the Empire State Building was tall. So what? Just proved New York builders didn't know when to stop at a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-l-rice/the-empire-state-building-was-tall-so-what-just-proved-new-york/) [Craig L. Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-l-rice/) > [“ See what happens when you abuse steroids? Dudes should have read the warning label. First the penis shrinks, then the sentence structure deteriorates.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/see-what-happens-when-you-abuse-steroids-dudes-should-have-read-the/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I knew a girl so ugly, I took her to the top of the Empire State building and planes started to attack her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/i-knew-a-girl-so-ugly-i-took-her-to-the-top-of-the-empire-state/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [Overall, The Population Bomb was probably too optimistic. I was writing about climate change - Anne and I actually wrote the book. We discussed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/overall-the-population-bomb-was-probably-too-optimistic-i-was-writing/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [Eddie Fisher married to Elizabeth Taylor is like me trying to wash the Empire State Building with a bar of soap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/eddie-fisher-married-to-elizabeth-taylor-is-like-me-trying-to-wash/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [“But sometimes, I feel like something's missing, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. That little something extra. Excitement. A challenge. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-michele/but-sometimes-i-feel-like-something-s-missing-and-i-can-t-quite-put/) [Beth Michele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-michele/) > [Owning great landmarks such as the Empire State Building or Trump Tower or the General Motors Building or the Plaza Hotel - there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/owning-great-landmarks-such-as-the-empire-state-building-or-trump/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“Everyone knows what a penny dropped form the top of the Empire State Building can do. So if it started to rain pennies, millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-mcdonell/everyone-knows-what-a-penny-dropped-form-the-top-of-the-empire-state/) [Nick McDonell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-mcdonell/) > [“Our society was utterly, ruinously derivative (although the word derivative as a criticism is itself derivative). We were the first human beings who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/our-society-was-utterly-ruinously-derivative-although-the-word/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“Nerd boy? Where he? (Biff) 'Okay... sad that they couldn’t even form a complete sentence. See what happens when you abuse steroids? Dudes should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/nerd-boy-where-he-biff-okay-sad-that-they-couldn-t-even-form-a/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“You can build the Empire State Building. Train the Prussian army. Elevate the hierarchy of a totalitarian state higher than the throne of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/you-can-build-the-empire-state-building-train-the-prussian-army/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [My favorite optimist was an American who jumped off the Empire State Building, and as he passed the 42nd floor, the window washers heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/my-favorite-optimist-was-an-american-who-jumped-off-the-empire-state/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [When I first came to New York City, what I was thrilled about was not the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gibbons/when-i-first-came-to-new-york-city-what-i-was-thrilled-about-was-not/) [Dave Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gibbons/) > [“... and left decimated. Not for myself, but for all the single women out there trying to date. I wanted to run to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/and-left-decimated-not-for-myself-but-for-all-the-single-women-out/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) ## More by Nadeem Aslam > [“Only twenty - nine years in the entire human history had been without warfare, and now here he was too, travelling between the episodes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/only-twenty-nine-years-in-the-entire-human-history-had-been-without/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [The neighbourhood is a place of...intrigue and emotional espionage, where when two people stop to talk on the street their tongues are like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/the-neighbourhood-is-a-place-of-intrigue-and-emotional-espionage/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“If love was the result of having caught a glimpse of another's loneliness, then he had loved Mikal since they were ten years old……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/if-love-was-the-result-of-having-caught-a-glimpse-of-another-s/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“We are warriors of Allah.” “You are thugs with Korans.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/we-are-warriors-of-allah-you-are-thugs-with-korans/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [Afghanistan had collapsed and everyone's life now lies broken at different levels within the rubble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/afghanistan-had-collapsed-and-everyone-s-life-now-lies-broken-at/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [This is among the few things that can be said about love with any confidence. It is small enough to be contained within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/this-is-among-the-few-things-that-can-be-said-about-love-with-any/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“If love was the result of having caught a glimpse of another's loneliness, then he had loved Mikal since they were both ten years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/if-love-was-the-result-of-having-caught-a-glimpse-of-another-s-2/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [How keen everyone is to make this world their home forgetting its impermanence It's like trying to see and name constellations in a fireworks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/how-keen-everyone-is-to-make-this-world-their-home-forgetting-its/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [On the journey towards the beloved, you live by dying at every step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/on-the-journey-towards-the-beloved-you-live-by-dying-at-every-step/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“The sky is a blue so clean it verges on joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/the-sky-is-a-blue-so-clean-it-verges-on-joy/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“He knows that had he been a young man himself he would not have stopped at Peshawar: he doesn’t know how he would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/he-knows-that-had-he-been-a-young-man-himself-he-would-not-have/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [A lie does not become truth just because ten people are telling it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/a-lie-does-not-become-truth-just-because-ten-people-are-telling-it/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“Basie would lie on the mattress and talk endlessly, sometimes drinking from a bottle of Murree’s whisky he’d bring with him, bought from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/basie-would-lie-on-the-mattress-and-talk-endlessly-sometimes-drinking/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“He led her back to the house, the perfume from the acacia clinging to her. The djinn was supposed to live in the scent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/he-led-her-back-to-the-house-the-perfume-from-the-acacia-clinging-to/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) > [“The scent of the tree's flowers can stop conversation. Rohan knows no purer source of melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/the-scent-of-the-tree-s-flowers-can-stop-conversation-rohan-knows-no/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) [Explore all 63 Nadeem Aslam quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) ## More Afghanistan quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [In 2001, we were told that the war in Afghanistan was a feminist mission. The marines were liberating Afghan women from the Taliban. Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-2001-we-were-told-that-the-war-in-afghanistan-was-a-feminist/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-levin/the-terrorist-attacks-of-september-11th-and-the-courageous-actions-of/) [Carl Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-levin/) > [According to a recent Harvard study, $6 trillion, when you include the ongoing healthcare expenses for our wounded soldiers, which is the least they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-a-recent-harvard-study-6-trillion-when-you-include-the/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chertoff/you-don-t-bargain-with-terrorists-you-don-t-appease-terrorists-and/) [Michael Chertoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chertoff/) > [“I stood with my mom in the cemetery. She felt terrible pain. My grandmother is with God. My mom has to continue living. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/i-stood-with-my-mom-in-the-cemetery-she-felt-terrible-pain-my/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people-to-people or arts/culture/media-to-people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. The programs in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-p-schneider/the-most-successful-cultural-diplomacy-strategy-integrates-people-to/) [Cynthia P. Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-p-schneider/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Thousands of Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq upholding their oaths and defending this nation. Chelsea Manning broke her oath and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/thousands-of-americans-have-given-their-lives-in-afghanistan-and-iraq/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [I have been to Afghanistan many times, even before the Taliban collapsed. I was fascinated by the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-khan/i-have-been-to-afghanistan-many-times-even-before-the-taliban/) [Kabir Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-khan/) > [There has been sort of, if you will, a moral interventionism on the part of the United States trying to reshape countries in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/there-has-been-sort-of-if-you-will-a-moral-interventionism-on-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/the-legal-system-in-afghanistan-is-very-immature-and-porous/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) [Browse all 1,159 Afghanistan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From the book he carefully tears out several maps, and in this light Afghanistan’s mountains and hills and restlessly branching corridors of rock appear as though the pages are crumpled up, and there is a momentary wish in him to smooth them down. 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