“People with yuan fen are destined to like one another”

Don’t trust anyone. Be a cold fish. I hurt no one. And no one can hurt me.

I’m afraid the chances of your getting a dowry are slim.

You’ll always be expected to know Chinese, and if you don’t, I’m afraid they will not respect you as much.

But you will still look Chinese, and when people meet you, they’ll see a Chinese girl no matter how well you speak English.

To my surprise I found her cheerful and free of pain, perhaps because of the small doses of morphine she was being given.

You must rely on yourself. No matter what else people may steal from you, they will never be able to take away your knowledge.

She was surrounded by neighbours and friends who congregated at her bedside day and night.

In this cosy, noisy, gregarious world of the “all-chinese” sickbed, so different from the stark, sterile solitude of the American hospital room, her life had assumed the astounding quality of a continuous farewell party.

Suen Le! (it means, “Let it be.

Revenge is not worthy of you. If you concentrate on revenge, you will keep those wounds fresh that would otherwise have healed.

The future belongs to you. Should anyone insult you, tell yourself this:

At the age of three my grand aunt proclaimed her independence by categorically refusing to have her feet bound, resolutely tearing off the bandages as fast as they were applied.

But you can vanquish the demons only when you yourself are convinced of your own worth.

You have your whole life ahead of you. Be smart. Study hard and be independent.

She was bedridden falling a fall which broke her hip.

Keep in mind that whenever you are in a crisis, you are in the midst of danger as well as opportunity.

Life is good, after all…and that’s what stays with me, even now, even when I’m about to be packed off to Poland.

You can call on each other / and count on each other … / because each other / is all you have.

You will not be a chip the richer.

There is always more to tell.

I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life. And that too is a deed.

Transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.

Let them go, but keep yourself whole.

Too often sinister threats to the bill of rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak, of anti-communism.