Long ago in China, knot-makers tied string into buttons and frogs, and rope into bell pulls. There was one knot so complicated that it blinded the knot-maker. Finally an emperor outlawed this cruel knot, and the nobles could not order it anymore. If I had lived in China, I would have been an outlaw knot-maker.
Maxine Hong KingstonChinese Americans, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?
Maxine Hong KingstonDo the right thing by whoever crosses your path. Those coincidental people are your people.
Maxine Hong KingstonAny merchant who advertises 'Honest Scales' must have been thinking about weighing them.
Maxine Hong Kingston