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21 " That’s the power you possess as an artist. To find and express your own unique message. "
― Ella Leya , The Orphan Sky
22 " Pushing the boundaries of my golden cage, searching for new ways of expression and freedom, unveiling the ambiguities between music and art, friendship and love—that was my summer of 1979. "
23 " You can close the city gates, but you can’t close the people’s mouths. "
24 " Leala's breath was "like a cello sawing away against the bouncing-bow contrabasses of her heartbeat. "
25 " Mama, did you teach me to be honest, to keep my integrity no matter what? Why did you tell me that bad truths were better than good lies? "
26 " That boy from the music shop—he might be everything you believe he is. But in the eyes of our society, he is a convicted criminal. He has nothing to lose. He is stuck where he is. On the bottom. While you are walking away from the greatest opportunity a girl can have. To win. To become independent. To achieve international fame and choose the life you desire. “Music "
27 " That evening, I played piano for ten thousand barely-out-of-their-teens boys who filled the Kabul stadium. Boys with pimples and crew cuts in oversized military uniforms, holding on to their toy guns. Toy guns that killed. I played as if there was no tomorrow. Because for many of them there wouldn’t be, other than inside a coffin draped with a Soviet flag. "