Even if I had expected it, even if I had known what I was going to do with my life, it would have knocked the wind out of me. When something that violent hits you, you can't help but lose your balance and fall. And after you pick yourself up, you realize you can't trust anybody to save you- not your husband, not your mother, not God. So what can you do to stop yourself from tilting and falling all over again?

But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better. -Jing-mei

It is because I had so much joy that I came to have so much hate.

I think we often write because we feel a loneliness, and people read for the same reason, and then they come away feeling a little less lonely.

Then she told me why a tiger is gold and black. It has two ways. The gold side leaps with its fierce heart. The black side stands still with cunning, hiding its gold between the trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come. I did not learn to use my black side until after the bad man left me.

It's a luxury being a writer, because all you ever think about is life.

Libraries are the pride of the city.