Quotes from Lisa See

I'm reminded of the old saying that diseases go in through the mouth, disasters come out of the mouth, meaning that words can be like bombs themselves.

I imagined my first night alone in bed with my stranger. I conjured our future years together unhampered by worries about money or officialdom. We would enjoy the day, the night, a smile, a word, a kiss, a glance. All lovely thoughts. All pointless dreams.

winter gone, mountains clear, water sparkles.

I remember a song we used to sing, Columbia, Gem of the Ocean. But I thought it was, Columbus, Jump in the Ocean.

How different it is with friendship. No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be

I had always thought it was her way of blinding herself to the messiness of the way we lived. Now I realised it was easier for her mind to go out through the air far above the clouds than to acknowledge the ugliness right before her eyes.

Hyacinth bean and papayas, long vines, deep roots. Palm trees outside the garden walls, with deep roots, stand a thousand years.

The realization that truth, forgiveness, and goodness are more important than revenge, condemnation, and cruelty gives me courage and certainty.

You'll never get a marriage proposal if you have to rely on your needlework.

No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand your heart in a way no one else ever will.

Men are so sure of themselves, and they have such courage and conviction. They believe-truly believe- that they can make things happen just by speaking the words, and in many cases they can.

To see Snow Flower's mother eat that meat was something I'll never forget. She had been raised to be a fine lady and, as hungry as she was, she did not tear into the food as someone in my family might. She used her chopsticks to pull apart slivers of the pork and lift them delicately to her lips. Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less that a cultivated woman.

We may look and act modern in many ways, but we can't escape what we are... obedient chinese daughters.

hers was just one of many loud voices, since the ears of all haenyeo are damaged over time by water pressure.

Every one of us could complain, but would that make our situation emotionally easier or physically more comfortable?

It's a Sun and Moon truth that if a husband sees his wife give birth, he might die from it.

The Four Virtues--virtue, demeanor, speech, and work.

But teaching a lesson isn't a part of friendship.

I wonder if there was anything I could have done differently. I hope I would have done everything differently, except I know that everything would have turned out the same. That's the meaning of fate. But if some things are fated and some people are luckier than others, then I also have to believe that I still haven't found my destiny.

it was like watching a silk worm's death-tender and subtle.

The three-step farming system that gives our pigs food from our behinds, fertilizer for our dry fields from the pigs' behinds, and a pig that can eventually be eaten.

Man becomes wiser and more mature through life experience. The same can be said of tea.

Store up good deeds and you will meet with good. Store up evil actions and you will meet with evil.

comprendo que no valoraba el amor más importante: el que surge de lo más profundo del corazón.