Quotes from David Henry Hwang

As Asian-Americans, the charge that is often lobbed against us is sort of the least original: the idea that somehow we're perpetual foreigners, that we can't be trusted, and that even my father, who was patriotic to the point that it was kind of a joke among his children, would be accused of being disloyal to America.

Why, in the Peking Opera, are women's roles played by men?...Because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.

There's something about China and its rush to capitalism that I find confusing. At the same time, we live in an America where capitalists oppose any government interference with free markets, while in China you have a very controlled, state-planned market where economic growth is better than ours.

I've studied Chinese in college, but basically, I'm not bilingual.

I'm happy. Which often looks like crazy.

Sometimes I hate you, sometimes I hate myself, but always I miss you

Tonight, I've finally learned to tell fantasy from reality. And, knowing the difference, I choose fantasy.

Why, in the Peking Opera, are women's roles played by men?...Because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.

Now I see -- we are always most revolted by the things hidden within us.

Gallimard: You have to do what I say! I'm conjuring you up in my mind! Song: Rene, I've never done what you've said. Why should it be any different in your mind?

Gallimard: It's... a pure sacrifice. He's unworthy, but what can she do? She loves him... so much. It's a very beautiful story. Song: Well, yes, to a Westerner. Gallimard: Exuse me? Song: It's one of your favotite fantasies, isn't it? The submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man.

Judge: But why would that make it possible for you to fool Monsieur Gallimard? Please--get to the point. Song: One, because when he finally met his fantasy woman, he wanted more than anything to believe that she was, in fact, a woman. And second, I am an Oriental. And being an Oriental, I could never be completely a man.

For the myths of the East, the myths of the West, the myths of men, and the myths of women—these have so saturated our consciousness that truthful contact between nations and lovers can only be the result of heroic effort.

Only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act

We must conserve our strengths for the battles we can win.

Don't forget: there is no homosexuality in China!

Well, there's no guarantee of failure in life like happiness in high school.

Happiness is so rare that our mind can turn somersaults to protect it.

Time flies when you're being stupid.

And you wonder, what's wrong with me? Will anyone beautiful want me?

This is the ultimate cruelty, isn't it? That I can talk and talk and to anyone listening, it's only air--too rich a diet to be swallowed by a mundane world.

Death with honor is better than life... life with dishonor.

But is it possible for a woman to be too uninhibited, too willing, so as to seem almost too... masculine?

We all deal with failure. If you're lucky to have a long career, it's part of the experience.