It was a distorted form of inverse logic: If hopes never come true, then hope for what you don't want.
Amy TanWe are living in a world where everything is false. The society is like bright paint applied on top of rotten wood.
Amy TanHow do I create something out of nothing? And how do I create my own life? I think it is by questioning, and saying to myself that there are no absolute truths.
Amy TanI was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way! Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way.
Amy Tan