Amy Tan quotes - page 5

All these years I kept my true nature hidden, running along like a small shadow so nobody could catch me. -Ying Ying. (Amy Tan)
My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club. I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the mah jong table has been empty since she died two months ago. My father thinks she was killed by her own thoughts. View quote
Amy Tan
My sister Kwan believes she has yin eyes. View quote
Amy Tan
Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears. View quote
Amy Tan
Sure I loved him - too much. And he loved me, only not enough. I just want someone who thinks I'm number one in his life. I'm not willing to accept emotional scraps anymore. View quote
Amy Tan
Don't think too much. That makes you believe you have more choices than you do. Then you mind becomes confused. View quote
Amy Tan
I think now that fate is half shaped by expectation, half by inattention. But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over. You have to pay attention to what you lost. You have to undo the expectation. View quote
Amy Tan
There's no hope. There's no reason to keep trying. Because you must. This is not hope. Not reason. This is your fate. This is your life, what you must do. View quote
Amy Tan
Only two kind of daughters. Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter! View quote
Amy Tan
You can't have intentions without consequences. The question is, who pays for the consequences? Saving fish from drowning. Same thing. Who's saved? Who's not? View quote
Amy Tan
Over the years, she told me the same story, except for the ending, which grew darker, casting long shadows into her life, and eventually into mine. (Amy Tan)
After the gold was removed from my body I felt lighter, more free. They say this is what happens if you lack metal. You begin to think as an independent person. View quote
Amy Tan
That was the night, in the kitchen, that I realized I was no better than who I was... And I no longer felt angry at Waverly. I felt tired and foolish, as if I had been running to escape someone chasing me, only to look behind and discover there was no one there. View quote
Amy Tan
Look at this face. Do you see my foolish hope? View quote
Amy Tan
Why are you attracted only to Chinese nonsense? View quote
Amy Tan
Your father is not my first husband. You are not those babies. View quote
Amy Tan
I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese. View quote
Amy Tan
I saw my mother in a different light. We all need to do that. You have to be displaced from what's comfortable and routine, and then you get to see things with fresh eyes, with new eyes. View quote
Amy Tan
My mother had a very difficult childhood, having seen her own mother kill herself. So she didn't always know how to be the nurturing mother that we all expect we should have. View quote
Amy Tan
My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the time I was in kindergarten. View quote
Amy Tan
My writing often contains souvenirs of the day - a song I heard, a bird I saw - which I then put into the novel. (Amy Tan)
That was a wonderful period in my life. I mean, I didn't become an artist, but somebody let me do something I loved. What a luxury, to do something you love to do. View quote
Amy Tan
You can get sucked into the idea that, 'Gosh, this is impressive. Maybe I should do this. It will look good.' Or 'I'll write like this because it will impress that critic.' View quote
Amy Tan
I don't see myself, for example, writing about cultural dichotomies, but about human connections. All of us go through angst and identity crises. And even when you write in a specific context, you still tap into that subtext of emotions that we all feel about love and hope, and mothers and obligations and responsibilities. View quote
Amy Tan
Yin people ring the bells, saying, "Pay attention." And you say, "Oh, I see now." Yet I'm a fairly skeptical person. I'm educated, I'm reasonably sane, and I know that this subject is fodder for ridicule. ... To write the book, I had to put that aside. As with any book. I go through the anxiety, "What will people think of me for writing something like this?" But ultimately, I have to write what I have to write about, including the question of life continuing beyond our ordinary senses. View quote
Amy Tan