Quotes from Shan Sa

My position at the Palace is our one opportunity. Have confidence in my destiny. Do not weep.

The role of Empress became a full-time occupation.

Tears are the weapons of the weak and the condolence of the powerful.

I hated myself for being cold and hard. Little Sister loved me more than I loved her. I was the tree that had stretched its foliage over the entire kingdom of her life. She was a stowaway who had huddled in the safety of my shade. Without me, she would wither and dry up.

The pages of life that had already been turned could not be opened again.

The ten thousand women in the Side Court were ten thousand flowers desperately dreaming of spring. Whether carefully planted out in pots or crudely sown in wasteland, they wilted in the harsh atmosphere of constant waiting, the deprivation of an endless winter.

Today I finally recognise the mistake that almost became my downfall: I expected too much out of life. I thought it would owe me happiness and cheerfulness. In fact, life offers neither good nor evil. Happiness is a fruit you cultivate and harvest inside your soul. You can not receive it from the outside. Why should I be fretful like a child that has got no gift? I have years ahead to be happy.

I talk to trees and animals. We have interesting conversations about food, weather, and love. They sometimes can predict the future.

would you dare to love me?

Tomorrow we will be nothing but earth and dust. Who will remember the love a soldier once knew?

To other women the choice of clothes was a form of ingenious exhibition, a shameless seduction. To me, dresses were like a breastplate that I put on to set off to war against this life.