Quotes About Understanding

to tell Noa that a man must learn to forgive—to know what is important, that to live without forgiveness was a kind of death with breathing and movement.

You must be a diligent person with a humble heart. Have compassion for everyone. Even your enemies.

She couldn't say this to her son, however, because Noa was someone who had studied, labored, and tried to lift himself out of their street, and he thought all the men who hadn't done so weren't very bright, either. He would not understand. Her son could not feel compassion for those who did not try.

Hoonie would have known enough not to want something he could not have—this forbearance was something that any normal peasant would have accepted about his life and what he was allowed to desire.

Yoseb read three or four papers to glean some truth from the gaps and overlaps.

he wanted to spare her the cruelty of what he had learned, because she would not believe that she was no different than her parents, that seeing him as only Korean - good or bad - was the same as seeing him only as a bad Korean. She could not see his humanity, and Noa realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.

Her complaint about her husband was not that he was boring or that he wasn't home enough. Nori was not a bad person. It was just that she felt like she had no clear sense of him after nineteen years of marriage, and she doubted that she ever would.

she would not believe that she was no different than her parents, that seeing him as only Korean—good or bad—was the same as seeing him only as a bad Korean. She could not see his humanity, and Noa realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.

Hansu smiled. "You are almost seventeen. I'm thirty-four. I am exactly twice your age. I am going to be your elder brother and your friend. Hansu-oppa. Would you like that?

There are a lot of troubled young women in this world. We can't save them all.

If you love anyone, you cannot help but share his suffering.

It's dangerous to think that everything is a sign from God. Perhaps God is always talking to us, but we don't know how to listen,

that seeing him as only Korean—good or bad—was the same as seeing him only as a bad Korean. She could not see his humanity, and Noa realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.

But in the presence of Casey's mother, Ella felt her mother's loss far more profoundly than she'd thought possible.

Su hermana mayor solía decir que los hombres odiaban la compasión; en lugar de eso querían empatía y admiración, una combinación que no era fácil.

Noa realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.

Learn everything. Fill your mind with knowledge - it's the only kind of power no one can take away from you.

Yoseb could understand the boy's anger, but he wanted another chance to talk to him, to tell Noa that a man must learn to forgive - to know what is important, that to live without forgiveness was a kind of death with breathing and movement.

Being a mother had taught her that this kind of emotional injustice was perhaps inevitable.

Listen, if people don't like you, it's not always your fault.

Learn everything. Fill your mind with knowledge—it's the only kind of power no one can take away from you." Hansu never told him to study, but rather to learn, and it occurred to Noa that there was a marked difference.

He was afraid of her; perhaps he had always been afraid of her - her joy, anger, sadness, excitement - she had so many extreme feelings.

One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about.

As my mom has said, when one person is unhappy, it usually means two people are unhappy but that one has not come to terms with it yet.