Create Yours

Top 400 Amy Tan Quotes (2026 Update)
Page 8 of 9

Amy Tan Quote: “Death was not necessarily a portal to the blank bliss of absolute nothingness. It was a deep dive into the unknown.”

351. “Death was not necessarily a portal to the blank bliss of absolute nothingness. It was a deep dive into the unknown.”

Amy Tan Quote: “How funny to see the foreigner in a farmer’s work hat, like a fish that has put on clothes. Around.”

352. “How funny to see the foreigner in a farmer’s work hat, like a fish that has put on clothes. Around.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Years before, she had dreamed of writing stories as a way to escape. She could revise her life and become someone else. She could be somewhere else. In her imagination she could change everything, herself, her mother, her past. But the idea of revising her life also frightened her, as if by imagination alone she were condemning what she did not like about herself or others. Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.”

353. “Years before, she had dreamed of writing stories as a way to escape. She could revise her life and become someone else. She could be somewhere else. In her imagination she could change everything, herself, her mother, her past. But the idea of revising her life also frightened her, as if by imagination alone she were condemning what she did not like about herself or others. Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Turn around then and lean against that boulder with your bottom facing me. I’ll enter you from behind. Are you damp yet?” In.”

354. “Turn around then and lean against that boulder with your bottom facing me. I’ll enter you from behind. Are you damp yet?” In.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Hugging and being hugged by everybody in moments of sadness and triumph, because hugging is something that never came naturally to me, and now it does.”

355. “Hugging and being hugged by everybody in moments of sadness and triumph, because hugging is something that never came naturally to me, and now it does.”

Amy Tan Quote: “But my father’s faith, as I said, was absolute. Through God’s prayer he could be granted exactly what he wanted.”

356. “But my father’s faith, as I said, was absolute. Through God’s prayer he could be granted exactly what he wanted.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Kwan saw what she believed. I saw what I didn’t want to believe.”

357. “Kwan saw what she believed. I saw what I didn’t want to believe.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I had discarded pride, that useless burden of self-importance I had carried around like my portable vanity with its broken mirror.”

358. “I had discarded pride, that useless burden of self-importance I had carried around like my portable vanity with its broken mirror.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I remember the day when I finally knew a genuine thought and could follow where it went.”

359. “I remember the day when I finally knew a genuine thought and could follow where it went.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Her mother looked pleased at the prospect of being vital to her daughter’s success. Ruth sighed, relieved yet sad. Why hadn’t she ever asked her mother to make drawings before? She should have done it when her mother’s hand and mind were still steady. It broke her heart to see her mother trying so hard, being so conscientious, so determined to be valuable. Making her mother happy would have been easy all along. LuLing simply wanted to be essential, as a mother should be.”

360. “Her mother looked pleased at the prospect of being vital to her daughter’s success. Ruth sighed, relieved yet sad. Why hadn’t she ever asked her mother to make drawings before? She should have done it when her mother’s hand and mind were still steady. It broke her heart to see her mother trying so hard, being so conscientious, so determined to be valuable. Making her mother happy would have been easy all along. LuLing simply wanted to be essential, as a mother should be.”

Amy Tan Quote: “In a crowd of Caucasians, two Chinese people are already like family.”

361. “In a crowd of Caucasians, two Chinese people are already like family.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Actually, I’m hoping we might have that. A commitment through time, past, present, future... marriage.”

362. “Actually, I’m hoping we might have that. A commitment through time, past, present, future... marriage.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Teddy once told me that it’s natural that we feel alone, and that’s because our hearts are different from others and we don’t even know how. When we’re in love, as if by magic, our different hearts come together perfectly toward the same desire. Eventually, the differences return, and then comes heartache and mending, and, in between, much loneliness and fear. If love remains despite the pain of those differences, it must be guarded as rare...”

363. “Teddy once told me that it’s natural that we feel alone, and that’s because our hearts are different from others and we don’t even know how. When we’re in love, as if by magic, our different hearts come together perfectly toward the same desire. Eventually, the differences return, and then comes heartache and mending, and, in between, much loneliness and fear. If love remains despite the pain of those differences, it must be guarded as rare...”

Amy Tan Quote: “I watch them continue to argue, although perhaps it is not arguing. They are remembering together, dreaming together.”

364. “I watch them continue to argue, although perhaps it is not arguing. They are remembering together, dreaming together.”

Amy Tan Quote: “My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in their fragile English.”

365. “My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in their fragile English.”

Amy Tan Quote: “No puedes tener suerte cuando otra persona tiene habilidad.”

366. “No puedes tener suerte cuando otra persona tiene habilidad.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Isn’t the past what people remember- who did what, how and why? And what the people remember, isn’t that mostly what they’ve already chosen to believe?”

367. “Isn’t the past what people remember- who did what, how and why? And what the people remember, isn’t that mostly what they’ve already chosen to believe?”

Amy Tan Quote: “This was not chance that they met twice, my mother would tell me whenever she recounted this story. It was fate.”

368. “This was not chance that they met twice, my mother would tell me whenever she recounted this story. It was fate.”

Amy Tan Quote: “And later, I discovered that maybe it was fate alla long, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you’re in control. i found out the most I could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any possibility, good or bad.”

369. “And later, I discovered that maybe it was fate alla long, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you’re in control. i found out the most I could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any possibility, good or bad.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Absolutely. I remember.” “Funny, I thought you did.” “Ah, you assumed!” He laughed. “Your mother isn’t the only one with memory problems. Well, if I said it, then I was wrong, because I do think it’s important to have certain assumptions – for one thing, that the person who’s with you is there for the long haul, that he’ll take care of you and what comes with you, the whole package, mother and.”

370. “Absolutely. I remember.” “Funny, I thought you did.” “Ah, you assumed!” He laughed. “Your mother isn’t the only one with memory problems. Well, if I said it, then I was wrong, because I do think it’s important to have certain assumptions – for one thing, that the person who’s with you is there for the long haul, that he’ll take care of you and what comes with you, the whole package, mother and.”

Amy Tan Quote: “What happened to Violet was terrible, and I’m not saying fate happens without blame. But when fate turns out well, everyone should forget the bad road that got us here.”

371. “What happened to Violet was terrible, and I’m not saying fate happens without blame. But when fate turns out well, everyone should forget the bad road that got us here.”

Amy Tan Quote: “The hunger in our hearts was instantly filled.”

372. “The hunger in our hearts was instantly filled.”

Amy Tan Quote: “We could choose what we wanted to believe. However, she added, any student who did not choose to believe in Jesus was a corpse-eating maggot, and when this unbeliever died, she would tumble into the underworld, where her body would be pierced by a bayonet, roasted like a duck, and forced to suffer all kinds of tortures that were worse than what was happening in Manchuria.”

373. “We could choose what we wanted to believe. However, she added, any student who did not choose to believe in Jesus was a corpse-eating maggot, and when this unbeliever died, she would tumble into the underworld, where her body would be pierced by a bayonet, roasted like a duck, and forced to suffer all kinds of tortures that were worse than what was happening in Manchuria.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Japanese chase-away juice.” And.”

374. “Japanese chase-away juice.” And.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Ruth believed Wendy made her life more sparkly, but today was not a good time for sparkles.”

375. “Ruth believed Wendy made her life more sparkly, but today was not a good time for sparkles.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Of cicadas, she would say that they looked like dead leaves fluttering, felt like paper crackling, sounded like fire roaring, smelled like dust rising, and tasted like the devil frying in oil... You see, in five ways she could sense the world... But it was always the sixth way, her... sense of importance, that later caused troubles between us. Because her senses led to opinions, and her opinions led to conclusions, and sometimes they were different from mine.”

376. “Of cicadas, she would say that they looked like dead leaves fluttering, felt like paper crackling, sounded like fire roaring, smelled like dust rising, and tasted like the devil frying in oil... You see, in five ways she could sense the world... But it was always the sixth way, her... sense of importance, that later caused troubles between us. Because her senses led to opinions, and her opinions led to conclusions, and sometimes they were different from mine.”

Amy Tan Quote: “By then I didn’t have enough feeling left in my body to cry.”

377. “By then I didn’t have enough feeling left in my body to cry.”

Amy Tan Quote: “We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more.”

378. “We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I now lived in an invisible place made of my own dwindling breath, and because no one else could see it, they could not yank me out of it.”

379. “I now lived in an invisible place made of my own dwindling breath, and because no one else could see it, they could not yank me out of it.”

Amy Tan Quote: “If there is anything I have learned these past six years, it is this: Each bird is surprising and thrilling in its own way. But the most special is the bird that pauses when it is eating, looks and acknowleges I am there, then goes back to what it was doing.”

380. “If there is anything I have learned these past six years, it is this: Each bird is surprising and thrilling in its own way. But the most special is the bird that pauses when it is eating, looks and acknowleges I am there, then goes back to what it was doing.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Life was good until the putges came. After that, there was nothing to do except flee into the jungle, high up, where it was so thick only wold things grew. When the putgest stopped Black Spot and his grids and cousin went quietly to the town of Nyang Shwe, where they were not known. They procured black-market identity cards of dead people with good reputations. After that they lived two ways: in the open life of the dead, and in the hidden life of the living.”

381. “Life was good until the putges came. After that, there was nothing to do except flee into the jungle, high up, where it was so thick only wold things grew. When the putgest stopped Black Spot and his grids and cousin went quietly to the town of Nyang Shwe, where they were not known. They procured black-market identity cards of dead people with good reputations. After that they lived two ways: in the open life of the dead, and in the hidden life of the living.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Mile after mile, all of it familiar, yet not, this distance that separates us, me from my mother.”

382. “Mile after mile, all of it familiar, yet not, this distance that separates us, me from my mother.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Real people don’t learn how to be unselfish... But maybe they can be more self-aware for a second that they are. Or perhaps they are patheticly more unaware. How do you cure somebody of selfishness? Send them to Mother Teresa school? There’s something deep-seated about selfishness.”

383. “Real people don’t learn how to be unselfish... But maybe they can be more self-aware for a second that they are. Or perhaps they are patheticly more unaware. How do you cure somebody of selfishness? Send them to Mother Teresa school? There’s something deep-seated about selfishness.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Her mastery of the language was a blissful expression of the spirit to her, like playing a musical instrument.”

384. “Her mastery of the language was a blissful expression of the spirit to her, like playing a musical instrument.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Every Sunday, the Jesus Worshippers asked me, “Do you believe?” I had to say not yet. I wanted to say yes to be polite. But then I would have been lying, and when I died maybe they would come after me and make me pay two kinds of penalty to the foreign devil, one for not believing, another for pretending that I did.”

385. “Every Sunday, the Jesus Worshippers asked me, “Do you believe?” I had to say not yet. I wanted to say yes to be polite. But then I would have been lying, and when I died maybe they would come after me and make me pay two kinds of penalty to the foreign devil, one for not believing, another for pretending that I did.”

Amy Tan Quote: “It is remarkable what birds can endure. It is tragic what they cannot.”

386. “It is remarkable what birds can endure. It is tragic what they cannot.”

Amy Tan Quote: “She was either temperamental, meaning short-tempered and unhappy, or she was melancholy, meaning listless and unhappy.”

387. “She was either temperamental, meaning short-tempered and unhappy, or she was melancholy, meaning listless and unhappy.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Being forty seems now more tangible. Life signs, like freeway signs, occasionally pop up. I’m getting there and I want to get there faster – without the stops and turns and detours. I want to be forty and have all those forty years behind me. Forty is secure. At forty you are a full-fledged being. Not awkward, not groping, not waiting. It’s an arrival point. There’s so much that I don’t know. So much that I’m not sure of. When will I overcome this feeling that I’ve been foolish for 24 years?”

388. “Being forty seems now more tangible. Life signs, like freeway signs, occasionally pop up. I’m getting there and I want to get there faster – without the stops and turns and detours. I want to be forty and have all those forty years behind me. Forty is secure. At forty you are a full-fledged being. Not awkward, not groping, not waiting. It’s an arrival point. There’s so much that I don’t know. So much that I’m not sure of. When will I overcome this feeling that I’ve been foolish for 24 years?”

Amy Tan Quote: “We both knew we were speaking about the effortlessness with which one falls in love without intending to, as if we were two stalks of bamboo bend toward each other by the chance of the wind. And then we bent toward each other and kissed, lost in the nowhere of being together.”

389. “We both knew we were speaking about the effortlessness with which one falls in love without intending to, as if we were two stalks of bamboo bend toward each other by the chance of the wind. And then we bent toward each other and kissed, lost in the nowhere of being together.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I learned to make things not matter, to put a seal on my hopes and place them on a high shelf, out of reach. And by telling myself that there was nothing inside those hopes anyway, I avoided the wounds of deep disappointment.”

390. “I learned to make things not matter, to put a seal on my hopes and place them on a high shelf, out of reach. And by telling myself that there was nothing inside those hopes anyway, I avoided the wounds of deep disappointment.”

Amy Tan Quote: “As with all hardships, he took this as yet another test of faith. He almost seemed glad he had been called upon on to endure it. And show how great his faith was. He would pass the test and save his son.”

391. “As with all hardships, he took this as yet another test of faith. He almost seemed glad he had been called upon on to endure it. And show how great his faith was. He would pass the test and save his son.”

Amy Tan Quote: “And before they ate the last supper of life-ending mushrooms, they would pound the drums and sound the hours. They would ready the souls of their bodies, the soul of the eyes, the soul of the mouths, all of them, one by one. They would know to be ready, to not dillydally and get left behind. Soon the soldiers would arrive. They would stab them with their bayonets, shoot them with their rifles, but they would already be gone, their bodies empty like the hollow husks of the emeralds beetles.”

392. “And before they ate the last supper of life-ending mushrooms, they would pound the drums and sound the hours. They would ready the souls of their bodies, the soul of the eyes, the soul of the mouths, all of them, one by one. They would know to be ready, to not dillydally and get left behind. Soon the soldiers would arrive. They would stab them with their bayonets, shoot them with their rifles, but they would already be gone, their bodies empty like the hollow husks of the emeralds beetles.”

Amy Tan Quote: “After a while I didn’t think it was a terrible life, no, not really. After a while, I hurt so much I didn’t feel any difference.”

393. “After a while I didn’t think it was a terrible life, no, not really. After a while, I hurt so much I didn’t feel any difference.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I wanted everything for you to be better. I wanted you to have the best circumstances, the best character. I didn’t want you to regret anything. And that’s why I named you Waverly. It was the name of the street we lived on. And I wanted you to think, this is where I belong. But I also knew if I named you after this street, soon you would grow up, leave this place, and take a piece of me with you.”

394. “I wanted everything for you to be better. I wanted you to have the best circumstances, the best character. I didn’t want you to regret anything. And that’s why I named you Waverly. It was the name of the street we lived on. And I wanted you to think, this is where I belong. But I also knew if I named you after this street, soon you would grow up, leave this place, and take a piece of me with you.”

Amy Tan Quote: “She didn’t even pause to think. She simply said in a way that made it clear there was no more to the story: “Your father is not my first husband. You are not those babies.”

395. “She didn’t even pause to think. She simply said in a way that made it clear there was no more to the story: “Your father is not my first husband. You are not those babies.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Americans don’t really look at one another when talking. They talk to their reflections. They look at others or themselves only when they think nobody is watching. So they never see how they really look. They see themselves smiling without their mouth open, or turned to the side where they cannot see their faults.”

396. “Americans don’t really look at one another when talking. They talk to their reflections. They look at others or themselves only when they think nobody is watching. So they never see how they really look. They see themselves smiling without their mouth open, or turned to the side where they cannot see their faults.”

Amy Tan Quote: “I want us to love each other so deeply we ache with the fullness of it.”

397. “I want us to love each other so deeply we ache with the fullness of it.”

Amy Tan Quote: “But why didn’t I flood in the same way? Why was their happiness tenfold what I felt? Did I lack the proper connection between the senses and the heart? And then I realized that this was my habit. To hold back my feelings.”

398. “But why didn’t I flood in the same way? Why was their happiness tenfold what I felt? Did I lack the proper connection between the senses and the heart? And then I realized that this was my habit. To hold back my feelings.”

Amy Tan Quote: “Or maybe he would turn to religion. Many Americans did so when faced with heartache and hardship.”

399. “Or maybe he would turn to religion. Many Americans did so when faced with heartache and hardship.”

Amy Tan Quote: “The best metaphors appear unexpectedly out of the deep blue by means of intuition and my infatuation with nuance.”

400. “The best metaphors appear unexpectedly out of the deep blue by means of intuition and my infatuation with nuance.”

Attitude Quotes

Attitude Quotes

Quotes About Stories

Quotes About Stories

PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NEXT

Attitude Quotes

Attitude Quotes

Quotes About Stories

Quotes About Stories

Betrayal Quotes

Betrayal Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Motivational Quotes

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Save image...
Permalink
Open in new tab
Copy quote text

Beautiful Wallpapers and Images

We hope you enjoyed our collection of 400 Amy Tan Quotes.

All the images on this page were created with QuoteFancy Studio.

Use QuoteFancy Studio to create high-quality images for your desktop backgrounds, blog posts, presentations, social media, videos, posters, and more.

Thank you!

Please check your email.