So much of history is mystery. We don't know what is lost forever, what will surface again. All objects exist in a moment of time. And that fragment of time is preserved or lost or found in mysterious ways. Mystery is a wonderful part of life. Amy Tan More Quotes by Amy Tan More Quotes From Amy Tan Sometimes you change to survive, and some things you don't give up, or you're too prideful, and then you think well, what's pride? Is it a good thing? Maybe it's a bad thing. That's what I look at in my life. It's always a question in my life I look at, and I never find the answer, because if I did, probably I wouldn't have books to write. Amy Tan dont-give-up giving-up book Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. That becomes part of your personality, Shanghai personality becomes part of yours. Amy Tan growing-up personality people I feel I've always been writing about self-identity. How do we become who we are? So I'm just writing from experience what's concerned me. Amy Tan identity self writing Our uniqueness makes us special, makes perception valuable - but it can also make us lonely. This loneliness is different from being 'alone': You can be lonely even surrounded by people. The feeling I'm talking about stems from the sense that we can never fully share the truth of who we are. I experienced this acutely at an early age. Amy Tan alone loneliness truth age When you read about the lives of other people, people of different circumstances or similar circumstances, you are part of their lives for that moment. You inhabit their lives, and you feel what they're feeling, and that is compassion. If we see that reading does allow us that, we see how absolutely essential reading is. Amy Tan feel moment you people There is this myth, that America is a melting pot, but what happens in assimilation is that we end up deliberately choosing the American things - hot dogs and apple pie - and ignoring the Chinese offerings. Amy Tan end things hot america My mother believed in curses, karma, good luck, bad luck, feng shui. Her amorphous set of beliefs showed me you can pick and choose the qualities of your philosophy, based on what works for you. Amy Tan good me you mother My breakfast is usually a wholegrain cereal or porridge, with walnuts sprinkled in it, berries, a tablespoon of honey, and chia seeds. I have coffee and a little cherry juice with seltzer. I have a seat by the window, and I look out at the view. Amy Tan look coffee window breakfast I am an American, steeped in American values. But I know on an emotional level what it means to be of the Chinese culture. Amy Tan i-am know values culture No one can travel your own road for you; you must travel it for yourself. My faith in this stems from my childhood. I grew up in a family with a system of religious beliefs handed down to me. Amy Tan me childhood family faith My older brother and I read all the time. My father read, but only things related to religion. One year, he did read a set of stories that was called something like '365 Stories' out loud to us. They followed a family for the year, a page a day. They were about kids with simple problems - like a wheel coming off their bicycle. Amy Tan day family simple time I felt ashamed of being different and ashamed of feeling that way. Amy Tan feeling being being-different way I write because I know that one day I will die, and thus I should experience as many deliberate observations, careful thoughts, wild ideas, and deep emotions as I can before that day occurs. Amy Tan thoughts die day experience I recognise why I have such a strong inability to forgive certain people who betray me. It's chiselled in, like a name on a tomb stone. Amy Tan name me strong people Popularity is given to you, and if you think that just because you're really popular you're a better person, it could be a real crash when you find the popularity goes down. Amy Tan down better think you My grandmother. She's someone I never met, and I would've loved to have met her. She's been a huge influence on our entire family, not just me. She is a mystery. It's not clear exactly what about her is truth and myth. Amy Tan loved me family truth My mother's openness has remained inspiring to me. I strive to be a skeptic, in the best sense of that word: I question everything, and yet I'm open to everything. And I don't have immovable beliefs. My values shift and grow with my experiences - and as my context changes, so does what I believe. Amy Tan best me mother believe In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances you were born with. Amy Tan
