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

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.

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.

People with yuan fen are destined to like one another

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.

Were a man to order his life by the rules of true reason, a frugal substance joined to a contented mind is for him great riches; for never is there any lack of a little.

These the senses we trust, first, last, and always.

Life is too short to do something you don’t want to do.

Various are the uses of friends, beyond all else in difficulty, but joy also looks for trust that is clear in the eyes.

Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.

It’s easier to avoid the snares of love than to escape once you are in that net.

He who labors diligently need never despair for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.

If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.