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

I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength..."strongest wind cannot be seen."

Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me, my mother's English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It's my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world

You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.

I wanted to write stories for myself. At first it was purely an aesthetic thing about craft. I just wanted to become good at the art of something. And writing was very private.

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

On the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In my mother's case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year. And because it is the new year, all debts must be paid, or disaster and misfortune will follow.