That was a wonderful period in my life. I mean, I didn't become an artist, but somebody let me do something I loved. What a luxury, to do something you love to do.

My parents told me I would become a doctor and then in my spare time I would become a concert pianist. So, both my day job and my spare time were sort of taken care of.

You can never be an artist if your work comes without effort. That is the problem with modernink from a bottle. You do not have to think. You simply write what is swimming on the top of your brain. And the top is nothing but pond scum, dead leaves, and mosquito spawn.

Whenever I'm with my mother, I feel as though I have to spend the whole time avoiding land mines.

While it is good to speak well, it is better to speak the truth.

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

I am fascinated by language in daily life: the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.