Chaos is the penance for leisure.

Dementia was like a truth serum.

I had always assumed we had an unspoken understanding about these things: that she didn't really mean I was a failure, and I really meant I would try to respect her opinions more. But listening to Auntie Lin tonight reminds me once agian: My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other's meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more. No doubt she told Auntie Lin I was going back to school to get a doctorate.

I think books were my salvation, they saved me from being miserable.

There's no hope. There's no reason to keep trying. Because you must. This is not hope. Not reason. This is your fate. This is your life, what you must do.

All these years I kept my true nature hidden, running along like a small shadow so nobody could catch me. -Ying Ying

How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently?