I don't steer clear of genres. I simply haven't steered myself toward some of them. Amy Tan More Quotes by Amy Tan More Quotes From Amy Tan On the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In my mother's case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year. And because it is the new year, all debts must be paid, or disaster and misfortune will follow. Amy Tan new-year mother years My parents told me I would become a doctor and then in my spare time I would become a concert pianist. So, both my day job and my spare time were sort of taken care of. Amy Tan doctors taken jobs Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart. Amy Tan doe want heart Your life is what you see in front of you. -An-mei Amy Tan fronts life-is I felt like a rich vagabond who had passed through the world paving my way with gold fairy dust, then realizing too late that the path disintegrated as soon as I passed over it. Amy Tan vagabonds dust gold We all hate moral ambiguity in some sense, and yet it is also absolutely necessary. In writing a story, it is the place where I begin. Amy Tan motivation hate inspiration My sisters and I stand, arms around each other, laughind and wiping the tears from each others eyes. The flash of the Polaroid goes off and my family hands me the snapshot. My sisters and I watch quietly together, eager to see what develops. Ghe grey-greensurface changes to the bright colors of our three images, sharpening and deepening all at once. And although we don't speak, I know we all see it: Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in suprise to see, her long-cherished wish. Amy Tan eye mother hands They know where happiness lies, not in a cave or a country, but in love and the freedom to give and take what has been there all along. Amy Tan giving country lying For all these years I kept my mouth closed so selfish desires would not fall out. And because I remained quiet for so long now my daughter does not hear me... All these years I kept my true nature hidden, running along like a small shadow so nobody could catch me. And because I moved so secretly now my daughter does not see me... We are lost, she and I, unseen and not seeing; unheard and not hearing, unknown by others. Amy Tan selfish daughter running People there only dream that it is China, because if you are Chinese you can never let go of China in your mind. Amy Tan dream letting-go people She would be quiet at first. Then she would say a word about something small, something she had noticed, and then another word, and another, each one flung out like a little piece of sand, one from this direction, another form behind, more and more, until his looks, his character, his soul would have eroded away . . . I was afraid that some unseen speck of truth would fly into my eye, blur what I was seeing and transform him from the divine man I thought he was into someone quite mundane, mortally wounded with tiresome habits and irritating imperfections. Amy Tan eye character men I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promiise. This means nothing to you, because to you promises mean nothing... But later, she will forget her promise. She will forget she had a grandmother. Amy Tan grandmother parent mean What is true about a person? Would I change in the same way the river changes color but still be the same person?... And then I realized it was the first time I could see the power of the wind. I couldn't see the wind itself, but I could see it carried water that filled the rivers and shaped the countryside. Amy Tan color rivers wind For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me. Amy Tan joy-luck-club mother believe And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song. Amy Tan half song two Yet part of me also thinks the whole idea makes perfect sense. The three of us, leaving our differences behind, stepping on the plane together, sitting side by side, lifting off, moving West to reach the East. Amy Tan differences moving thinking Yesterday my daughter said to me, 'My marriage is falling apart.' And now all she can do is watch it falling. Amy Tan daughter yesterday fall Only you pick that crab. Nobody else take it. I already know this. Everyone else want best quality. You thinking different. Amy Tan quality jesus thinking Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears. Amy Tan turtles sorrow joy Seeing her this last time, I threw myself on her body. And she opened her eyes slowly. I was not scared. I knew she could see me and what she had finally done. So i shut her eyes with my fingers and told her with my heart: I cah see the truth, too. I am strong, too. Amy Tan eye strong heart
