Wise guy, he not go against wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South, blow with wind -- poom! -- North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen.

I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these things do not mix?

I have loved works of fiction precisely for their illusions, for the author's sleight-of-hand in showing me the magic, what appeared in the right hand but not in the left.

Placing on writers the responsibility to represent a culture is an onerous burden.

Even though I was young, I could see the pain of the flesh and the worth of the pain.

That is the saddest part when you lose someone you love - that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the same person I lost? Maybe you lost more maybe less, then thousand different things that come from your memory or imagination - and you do not know which is which, which was true, which is false.

Secrets are kept from children, a lid on top of the soup kettle, so they do not boil over with too much truth.