The novel Three Cups of Tea is flooded with many different themes. The themes range from patience and hard work, perseverance and acceptance. However, there is one idea that all themes seem to revolve around and that is knowledge is power. With this in mind, I have created a theme for my essay and it is that education is the key to progress. Progress towards a healthier more understanding and peaceful world. Words such as equality, opportunity, knowledge, and shared understanding help to describe this idea and are expressed throughout the novel in many different situations. On page 209 Mortenson says “Girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned.” Quotes such as this one will help me enforce and support the central theme and purpose of my essay. The quotation also clearly emphasizes that with education, impoverished places in little corners of the world, ones such as Korphe can improve hygiene and further health care standards. Those two facts alone can drastically reduce the problem of infant mortality. The ultimate underlying whisper and lesson to be learned from this book, is that education is the key to combating terrorism, which in turn leads to a safer and above all, more peaceful world. My essay will highlight this central theme and explain just how powerful and vital knowledge, gained through a simple education, can be.