We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.
Arthur GoldenShe paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
Arthur GoldenSometimes we get through adversity only by imagining what the world might be like if our dreams should ever come true.
Arthur GoldenI tried to continue, but somehow my throat made up its mind to swallow โ though I canโt think what I was swallowing, unless it was a little knot of emotion I pushed back down because there was no room in my face for any more.
Arthur GoldenFrom this experience, I understood the danger of focusing only on what isn't there. What if I came to the end of my life and realized that I'd spent every day watching for a man who would never come to me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be, to realize I'd never really tasted the things I'd eaten, or seen the places I'd been, because I'd thought of nothing but the Chairman even while my life was drifting away from me. And yet if I drew my thoughts back from him, what life would I have? I would be like a dancer who had practiced since childhood for a performance she would never give.
Arthur Golden