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Top 200 Lisa See Quotes (2026 Update)
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Lisa See Quote: “Dreamers are born to be disappointed.”

151. “Dreamers are born to be disappointed.”

Lisa See Quote: “When the sun is shining, think of the time it won’t be, because even when you’re sitting in your house with the doors shut, misfortune can fall from above. Page 279.”

152. “When the sun is shining, think of the time it won’t be, because even when you’re sitting in your house with the doors shut, misfortune can fall from above. Page 279.”

Lisa See Quote: “She’s grabbed onto old traditions-outdated traditions- in the same way I latch onto them now: as a means of survival, as a way to hang on to ghost memories.”

153. “She’s grabbed onto old traditions-outdated traditions- in the same way I latch onto them now: as a means of survival, as a way to hang on to ghost memories.”

Lisa See Quote: “What stays with me most is a general sense of loss, unease, and longing for the past that cannot be relieved.”

154. “What stays with me most is a general sense of loss, unease, and longing for the past that cannot be relieved.”

Lisa See Quote: “Every pandemic in the history of the world has come from China.”

155. “Every pandemic in the history of the world has come from China.”

Lisa See Quote: “All things not at peace will cry out.”

156. “All things not at peace will cry out.”

Lisa See Quote: “Maybe we’re all like that with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they’re extraordinary.”

157. “Maybe we’re all like that with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they’re extraordinary.”

Lisa See Quote: “I know a lot about women and their suffering, but I still know almost nothing about men.”

158. “I know a lot about women and their suffering, but I still know almost nothing about men.”

Lisa See Quote: “When fortune comes, do not enjoy all of it; when advantage comes, do not take all of it.”

159. “When fortune comes, do not enjoy all of it; when advantage comes, do not take all of it.”

Lisa See Quote: “To us, she was like a rare bird that had escaped its cage and was roaming through a courtyard of common chickens.”

160. “To us, she was like a rare bird that had escaped its cage and was roaming through a courtyard of common chickens.”

Lisa See Quote: “When the string breaks while working, there is still the rope. When the oars wear out, there is still the tree, ” she recited. “You feel you can’t go on, but you will.”

161. “When the string breaks while working, there is still the rope. When the oars wear out, there is still the tree, ” she recited. “You feel you can’t go on, but you will.”

Lisa See Quote: “Suffering has brought clarity into my life. Maybe the things that have happened to me are punishment for what I did in a previous life, maybe they were fate or destiny, and maybe they’re all just part of a natural cycle – like the short but spectacular lives of cherry blossoms in spring or leaves falling away in autumn.”

162. “Suffering has brought clarity into my life. Maybe the things that have happened to me are punishment for what I did in a previous life, maybe they were fate or destiny, and maybe they’re all just part of a natural cycle – like the short but spectacular lives of cherry blossoms in spring or leaves falling away in autumn.”

Lisa See Quote: “A weak man always seeks to hurt those lower than he.”

163. “A weak man always seeks to hurt those lower than he.”

Lisa See Quote: “I was a haenyeo – independent and resilient – but I’d missed my husband.”

164. “I was a haenyeo – independent and resilient – but I’d missed my husband.”

Lisa See Quote: “Peony, think of your own feet when you do this. You know how the toes are tucked under and how your mid-foot is folded in on itself? We accomplish this by rolling the bones under the foot as if you were rolling a sock. Can you do that?”

165. “Peony, think of your own feet when you do this. You know how the toes are tucked under and how your mid-foot is folded in on itself? We accomplish this by rolling the bones under the foot as if you were rolling a sock. Can you do that?”

Lisa See Quote: “Her house is the nest where she hides the joy, laughter, sorrows, and regrets of her life.”

166. “Her house is the nest where she hides the joy, laughter, sorrows, and regrets of her life.”

Lisa See Quote: “All the time, I looked out our lattice window. I watched the birds fly by. I followed the clouds on their travels. I studied the moon as it grew larger, then shrank. So much happened outside my window that I almost forgot what was happening inside that room.”

167. “All the time, I looked out our lattice window. I watched the birds fly by. I followed the clouds on their travels. I studied the moon as it grew larger, then shrank. So much happened outside my window that I almost forgot what was happening inside that room.”

Lisa See Quote: “That I had been shallow, stubborn, and selfish did not alter the gravity and stupidity of what I had done. I had made the greatest mistake for a woman literate in nu shu: I had not considered texture, context, and shades of meaning.”

168. “That I had been shallow, stubborn, and selfish did not alter the gravity and stupidity of what I had done. I had made the greatest mistake for a woman literate in nu shu: I had not considered texture, context, and shades of meaning.”

Lisa See Quote: “I accepted these limitations, knowing that my worth was based entirely on the child growing inside me.”

169. “I accepted these limitations, knowing that my worth was based entirely on the child growing inside me.”

Lisa See Quote: “What’s your first impression of a new place? Is it the first meal you eat? Your first ice cream cone? The first person you meet? The first night you spend in your new bed in your new home? The first broken promise?”

170. “What’s your first impression of a new place? Is it the first meal you eat? Your first ice cream cone? The first person you meet? The first night you spend in your new bed in your new home? The first broken promise?”

Lisa See Quote: “To make an ox or water buffalo work so hard, it needs to be blinded and uninformed. That’s what the government is doing to the masses now.”

171. “To make an ox or water buffalo work so hard, it needs to be blinded and uninformed. That’s what the government is doing to the masses now.”

Lisa See Quote: “Tea reminds us to slow down and escape the pressures of modern life,” he says.”

172. “Tea reminds us to slow down and escape the pressures of modern life,” he says.”

Lisa See Quote: “I don’t really know anything about the movie business, even though I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life – somehow I’ve never bumped into it.”

173. “I don’t really know anything about the movie business, even though I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life – somehow I’ve never bumped into it.”

Lisa See Quote: “Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back,” she warned the gathering. “In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”

174. “Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back,” she warned the gathering. “In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”

Lisa See Quote: “Our words had to be circumspect. We could not write anything too negative about our circumstances. This was tricky, since the very form of a married woman’s letter needed to include the usual complaints – that we were pathetic, powerless, worked to the bone, homesick, and sad. We were supposed to speak directly about our feelings without appearing ungrateful, no-account, or unfilial.”

175. “Our words had to be circumspect. We could not write anything too negative about our circumstances. This was tricky, since the very form of a married woman’s letter needed to include the usual complaints – that we were pathetic, powerless, worked to the bone, homesick, and sad. We were supposed to speak directly about our feelings without appearing ungrateful, no-account, or unfilial.”

Lisa See Quote: “Although I can’t possibly have a single memory of this place. Then, from deep within me, a profound sense of love radiating out to everything around me complemented by reciprocal waves of love coming at me, enveloping me. All.”

176. “Although I can’t possibly have a single memory of this place. Then, from deep within me, a profound sense of love radiating out to everything around me complemented by reciprocal waves of love coming at me, enveloping me. All.”

Lisa See Quote: “Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less than a cultivated woman.”

177. “Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less than a cultivated woman.”

Lisa See Quote: “You can always count on people to crowded your party when you’re in glory but you should never dream of people sending you charcoal in the cold.”

178. “You can always count on people to crowded your party when you’re in glory but you should never dream of people sending you charcoal in the cold.”

Lisa See Quote: “The three-step farming system that gives our pigs food from our behinds, fertilizer for our dry fields from the pigs’ behinds, and a pig that can eventually be eaten.”

179. “The three-step farming system that gives our pigs food from our behinds, fertilizer for our dry fields from the pigs’ behinds, and a pig that can eventually be eaten.”

Lisa See Quote: “You have special abilities,” she goes on. “I don’t mean you are a witch or a fox spirit. And you’ve never seemed drawn to the special gift of healing or magic. Rather, you are like A-ma Mata, who gave birth to the Akha people, who pushed against her restraints, who said, ‘No, I will not accept my bad fate,’ and who endured against all odds with her intelligence, compassion, and perseverance. All that comes from this grove. And the mother tree.” A-ma.”

180. “You have special abilities,” she goes on. “I don’t mean you are a witch or a fox spirit. And you’ve never seemed drawn to the special gift of healing or magic. Rather, you are like A-ma Mata, who gave birth to the Akha people, who pushed against her restraints, who said, ‘No, I will not accept my bad fate,’ and who endured against all odds with her intelligence, compassion, and perseverance. All that comes from this grove. And the mother tree.” A-ma.”

Lisa See Quote: “Perhaps he was afraid as I was that we’d be caught. Or perhaps he was breathing me in just as I was letting him come into my lungs, my eyes, my heart.”

181. “Perhaps he was afraid as I was that we’d be caught. Or perhaps he was breathing me in just as I was letting him come into my lungs, my eyes, my heart.”

Lisa See Quote: “To protect my heart, this is what I would have to do with Snow Flower. I couldn’t let anyone know I was dying from anguish that she no longer loved me.”

182. “To protect my heart, this is what I would have to do with Snow Flower. I couldn’t let anyone know I was dying from anguish that she no longer loved me.”

Lisa See Quote: “I think sometimes as an adult, you take people for what they do, and what they are now, instead of the whole picture of their lives.”

183. “I think sometimes as an adult, you take people for what they do, and what they are now, instead of the whole picture of their lives.”

Lisa See Quote: “We had a meeting where we were supposed to learn how to respond to jerks who ask things like “When did you know you were adopted?” Most people picture a scene where the parents sit you down and you “find out who you are.” I didn’t need that meeting to know how to answer, because all I had to do was look in the mirror. When people ask me that question, I always say, “When did you find out you weren’t adopted? How do you know your mother is your birth mother?”

184. “We had a meeting where we were supposed to learn how to respond to jerks who ask things like “When did you know you were adopted?” Most people picture a scene where the parents sit you down and you “find out who you are.” I didn’t need that meeting to know how to answer, because all I had to do was look in the mirror. When people ask me that question, I always say, “When did you find out you weren’t adopted? How do you know your mother is your birth mother?”

Lisa See Quote: “When she reaches the ground, she looks from the old woman to me. A moment of confusion. Then recognition. I know her too, because I’ve seen traces of her in my face in the mirror. My mother. My a-ma.”

185. “When she reaches the ground, she looks from the old woman to me. A moment of confusion. Then recognition. I know her too, because I’ve seen traces of her in my face in the mirror. My mother. My a-ma.”

Lisa See Quote: “But then this is how it is for women everywhere. You experience one lapse in conscience, in how low you think you’ll go, in what you’ll accept, and pretty soon you’re at the bottom.”

186. “But then this is how it is for women everywhere. You experience one lapse in conscience, in how low you think you’ll go, in what you’ll accept, and pretty soon you’re at the bottom.”

Lisa See Quote: “And it confused me to think that the cloven-footed ones could have so many marvelous creations.”

187. “And it confused me to think that the cloven-footed ones could have so many marvelous creations.”

Lisa See Quote: “I used to think mothers-in-law are difficult the world over, but on that day I came to understand that they’re simply unknowable.”

188. “I used to think mothers-in-law are difficult the world over, but on that day I came to understand that they’re simply unknowable.”

Lisa See Quote: “To see Sow Flower’s mother eat that meat was something I’ll never forget. She had been raised to be a fine lady and, as hungry as she was, she did not tear into the food as someone in my family might. She used her chopsticks to pull apart slivers of the pork and lift them delicately to her lips. Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less that a cultivated woman.”

189. “To see Sow Flower’s mother eat that meat was something I’ll never forget. She had been raised to be a fine lady and, as hungry as she was, she did not tear into the food as someone in my family might. She used her chopsticks to pull apart slivers of the pork and lift them delicately to her lips. Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less that a cultivated woman.”

Lisa See Quote: “And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never age.”

190. “And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never age.”

Lisa See Quote: “I think to really be literate in nu shu you only need about 600 characters because it is phonetic. So you’re able to then create many words out of one character.”

191. “I think to really be literate in nu shu you only need about 600 characters because it is phonetic. So you’re able to then create many words out of one character.”

Lisa See Quote: “Because inside we still carry the dreams of what could have been, of what should have been, of what we wish could still be. This doesn’t mean we aren’t content. We are content, but the romantic longings of our girlhood have never entirely left us. It’s like Yen-Yen said all those years ago: ‘I look in the mirror and I’m surprised by what I see.’ I look in the mirror and still expect to see my Shanghai-girl self- not the wife and mother I’ve become.”

192. “Because inside we still carry the dreams of what could have been, of what should have been, of what we wish could still be. This doesn’t mean we aren’t content. We are content, but the romantic longings of our girlhood have never entirely left us. It’s like Yen-Yen said all those years ago: ‘I look in the mirror and I’m surprised by what I see.’ I look in the mirror and still expect to see my Shanghai-girl self- not the wife and mother I’ve become.”

Lisa See Quote: “You look at me now and see an old face, but once I was beautiful.”

193. “You look at me now and see an old face, but once I was beautiful.”

Lisa See Quote: “A woman isn’t just one thing. The past is in us, constantly changing us. Heartache and failure shift perspectives as do joy and triumphs.”

194. “A woman isn’t just one thing. The past is in us, constantly changing us. Heartache and failure shift perspectives as do joy and triumphs.”

Lisa See Quote: “It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they would have – I guess you’d call them beauty contests – where all of the women of a particular village or town would be seated behind these screens or curtains with only their feet showing.”

195. “It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they would have – I guess you’d call them beauty contests – where all of the women of a particular village or town would be seated behind these screens or curtains with only their feet showing.”

Lisa See Quote: “People write to me all the time, and I write back.”

196. “People write to me all the time, and I write back.”

Lisa See Quote: “Every day Fu-shee, the smaller children, and I fan out in the hills around Green Dragon to strip trees of their bark and leaves, dig up roots and search for wild grass. We’ll eat anything, and we have. But you can’t eat a leather belt like it’s a crisp cucumber. You soak it, boil it, and chew on it for days.”

197. “Every day Fu-shee, the smaller children, and I fan out in the hills around Green Dragon to strip trees of their bark and leaves, dig up roots and search for wild grass. We’ll eat anything, and we have. But you can’t eat a leather belt like it’s a crisp cucumber. You soak it, boil it, and chew on it for days.”

Lisa See Quote: “As A-ma said, every story, every dream, every waking minute of our lives is filled with one fateful coincidence after another.”

198. “As A-ma said, every story, every dream, every waking minute of our lives is filled with one fateful coincidence after another.”

Lisa See Quote: “I grew up believing that rice was to nourish and that tea was to heal. Now I understand that tea is also to connect and to dream. That seduction is deeper and more profound than could happen with any man.”

199. “I grew up believing that rice was to nourish and that tea was to heal. Now I understand that tea is also to connect and to dream. That seduction is deeper and more profound than could happen with any man.”

Lisa See Quote: “As for children, every woman knows the fears and sorrows. Joy is a delicious luxury that we experience most cautiously, for tragedy conceals itself around every corner.”

200. “As for children, every woman knows the fears and sorrows. Joy is a delicious luxury that we experience most cautiously, for tragedy conceals itself around every corner.”

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