“ In all these years we've been together, he said, I don't think I know an important part of you. You keep secrets inside you. You hide. It's as though I've never seen you naked, and I've had to imagine… Amy Tan
“ I learned to make things not matter, to put a seal on my hopes and place them on a high shelf, out of reach. And by telling myself that there was nothing inside those hopes anyway, I avoided the wound… Amy Tan
“ I had always assumed we had an unspoken understanding about these things: that she didn't really mean I was a failure, and I really meant I would try to respect her opinions more. But listening to Aun… Amy Tan
“ Each person is made of five different elements, she told me. Too much fire and you had a bad temper. That was like my father, whom my mother always critized for his cigarette habit and who always shou… Amy Tan
“ But you can't stay in the dark for so long. Something inside of you starts to fade and you become like a starving person, crazy-hungry for light. Amy Tan
“ But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.-Jing-mei Amy Tan
“ American circumstances and Chiese character. How could I know these two things do not mix?I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame. You are first… Amy Tan
“ When you are told, It was meant to be, ask, Who meant it? What does it really mean? Is someone trying to make you accept an undesirable situation or one in which you have doubts? When you are told, Sh… Amy Tan
“ When you already believe something, how can you suddenly stop? When you are a loyal friend, how can you no longer be one? Amy Tan
“ When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no , no inside knowing of things. If she had , she would see a tiger lady. And she… Amy Tan
“ Was there ever a true great love? Anyone who became the object of my obsession and not simply my affections? I honestly don't think so. In part, this was my fault. It was my nature, I suppose. I could… 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. 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. Amy Tan
“ Only two kinds of daughters, she shouted in Chinese. Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Amy Tan
“ Now I was a tiger that neither pounced nor lay waiting between the trees. I became an unseen spirit. Amy Tan
“ My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other's meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more. Amy Tan
“ Maybe the kind of love that would comfort me did not exist. Perhaps I expected too much of love and no one existed who could ever meet my unceasing and bottomless need for it. Amy Tan
“ I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect for others, and eventually thought neither of us knew it at the time, chess games...… Amy Tan
“ I think Kwan intended to show me the world is not a place but the vastness of the soul. And the soul is nothing more than love, limitless, endless, all that moves us toward knowing what is true. Amy Tan
“ I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame. You are first in line for a scholarship. If the roof crashes on your head, no need to cry over this bad… Amy Tan
