Libraries are the pride of the city.

They know where happiness lies, not in a cave or a country, but in love and the freedom to give and take what has been there all along.

I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese.

I have always known a thing before it happens.

I was punched breathless by the strongest emotions I have ever felt and they are now stored in my intuition as a writer.

I felt stuck in the bottom of a wishing well. I was desperate to shout what I wanted, but I didn’t know what that was. I knew only what it wasn’t. The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. That becomes part of your personality, Shanghai personality becomes part of yours.