Because sometimes that is the only way to remember what is in your bones. You must peel off your skin, and that of your mother, and her mother. Until there is nothing. No scar, no skin, no flesh. -An-mei Amy Tan More Quotes by Amy Tan More Quotes From Amy Tan To come so far, to lose so much and to find nothing. -Jing-mei Amy Tan loses Can you imagine how it is, to want to be neither inside nor outside, to want to be nowhere and disappear? Amy Tan disappear imagine want I did not lose myself all at once. Amy Tan loses I don't steer clear of genres. I simply haven't steered myself toward some of them. Amy Tan genre clear havens I didn't fear failure. I expected failure. Amy Tan failure expected No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have encouragement, but I didn't have discouragement, because I don't think anybody knew what that meant. Amy Tan encouragement fiction thinking I learned to forgive myself, and that enabled me to forgive my mother as a person. Amy Tan forgiving persons mother I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese. Amy Tan mother people thinking I like to go somewhere where I learn something I didn't know before, like the Dry Tortugas between Florida and Cuba. Amy Tan cuba florida dry My mother had a look on her face that I'll never forget. It was one of complete despair and horror, for losing Bing, for being so foolish as to think she could use faith to change fate. Amy Tan fate mother thinking I would find myself laughing and wondering where these ideas came from. You can call it imagination, I suppose. But I was grateful for wherever they came from. Amy Tan grateful imagination ideas Hardships can harden even the best person. Amy Tan best-person hardship persons Those who don't heed the warnings don't live to admit they were stupid not to do so. Amy Tan heed stupid warning The life we receive is not always what we choose. Amy Tan Fate changes when you change your clothes. Amy Tan clothes fate Whenever my mother talks to me, she begins the conversation as if we were already in the middle of an argument. Amy Tan argument middle mother When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no chuming, no inside knowing of things. If she had chuming she would see a tiger lady. And she would have careful fear. Amy Tan daughter eye knowing Placing on writers the responsibility to represent a culture is an onerous burden. Amy Tan burden responsibility culture My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the time I was in kindergarten. Amy Tan kindergarten parent expectations You have to be your own person. You can't let people's opinions determine how you think about yourself. There's a difference between identity and self-identity. Amy Tan differences self thinking
