In yielding we are like the water, by nature placid, conforming to the hollow of the smallest hand; in time, shaping even the mountains to its will. Thus we keep duty and honor. We cherish clan and civilization. We are Chinese.

What harm is there in dreaming, if it eases pain? What good is reality, if it blots out hope? Can a man's mind be washed without bleaching his soul?

A secret, like a chore, always seems to lead to another, one even more troublesome than the first.

prophecies do not alter fate, only confirm it.

to ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.

In yielding we are like the water, by nature placid, conforming to the hollow of the smallest hand; in time, shaping even the mountains to its will. Thus we keep duty and honor. We cherish clan and civilization. We are Chinese.

Nothing fruitful ever comes when plants are forced to flower in the wrong season.