Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Famous Quotes By Amy Tan On Luck, Culture, Relationships And More

Famous As: American Author Known for Her Novels: ‘The Joy Luck Club’ and ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’
Born On: 1952
Born In: Oakland, California, United States
Age: 72 Years
Amy Tan is a popular American writer whose thoughts and writings traverse the Chinese American experience and mother-daughter relationships. Her novel ‘The Joy Luck Club’ was reworked into a movie in 1933 which was directed by Wayne Wang. Some of the most notable works by Tan include ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’, ‘The Valley Of Amazement’, ‘The Kitchen God’s Wife’, ‘Saving Fish From Drowning’ and ‘The Hundred Secret Senses’. Her writings also include non-fiction essays and few children books. The children books written by Tan have been turned into an animated series. Tan’s work, thoughts, writings and books have both been commercially and critically acclaimed. She has also been accused of depicting the Chinese culture in a negative light. Read through the quotes and sayings by Amy Tan which will give you a glimpse of customs and propinquity.
Listed In:
We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.

We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.

Amy Tan
If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.

If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.

Amy Tan
Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.

Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.

Amy Tan
Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.

Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.

Amy Tan
Everyone must dream. We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that's like saying you can never change your fate. Isn't that true?

Everyone must dream. We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that's like saying you can never change your fate. Isn't that true?

Amy Tan
Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.

Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.

Amy Tan
I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.

I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.

Amy Tan
I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.

I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.

Amy Tan
Isn't hate merely the result of wounded love?

Isn't hate merely the result of wounded love?

Amy Tan
Sure I loved him - too much. And he loved me, only not enough. I just want someone who thinks I'm number one in his life. I'm not willing to accept emotional scraps anymore.

Sure I loved him - too much. And he loved me, only not enough. I just want someone who thinks I'm number one in his life. I'm not willing to accept emotional scraps anymore.

Amy Tan
That was how dishonesty and betrayal started, not in big lies but in small secrets.

That was how dishonesty and betrayal started, not in big lies but in small secrets.

Amy Tan
We all had our miseries. But to despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable.
-Suyuan

We all had our miseries. But to despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable. -Suyuan

Amy Tan
That is the way it is with a wound. The wound begins to close in on itself, to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed, you no longer see what is underneath, what started the pain.

That is the way it is with a wound. The wound begins to close in on itself, to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed, you no longer see what is underneath, what started the pain.

Amy Tan
I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the years washing away my pain, the same way carvings on stone are worn down by water.

I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the years washing away my pain, the same way carvings on stone are worn down by water.

Amy Tan
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

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
From what I have observed, when the anesthesia of love wears off, there is always the pain of consequences. You don't have to be stupid to marry the wrong man.

From what I have observed, when the anesthesia of love wears off, there is always the pain of consequences. You don't have to be stupid to marry the wrong man.

Amy Tan
And I think now that fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention. But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over.
-Rose

And I think now that fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention. But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over. -Rose

Amy Tan
I love and am loved, fully and freely, nothing expected, more than enough received.

I love and am loved, fully and freely, nothing expected, more than enough received.

Amy Tan
You remember only what you want to remember. You know only what your heart allows you to know.

You remember only what you want to remember. You know only what your heart allows you to know.

Amy Tan
How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently?

How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently?

Amy Tan
But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.
-Jing-mei

But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better. -Jing-mei

Amy Tan
You must think for yourself, what you must do. If someone tells you, then you are not trying.
-An-mei

You must think for yourself, what you must do. If someone tells you, then you are not trying. -An-mei

Amy Tan
After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?

After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?

Amy Tan
I won't be what I'm not.
-Jing-mei

I won't be what I'm not. -Jing-mei

Amy Tan
Too much happiness always overflowed into tears of sorrow.

Too much happiness always overflowed into tears of sorrow.

Amy Tan
Your life is what you see in front of you.
-An-mei

Your life is what you see in front of you. -An-mei

Amy Tan
Words to me were magic. You could say a word and it could conjure up all kinds of images or feelings or a chilly sensation or whatever. It was amazing to me that words had this power.

Words to me were magic. You could say a word and it could conjure up all kinds of images or feelings or a chilly sensation or whatever. It was amazing to me that words had this power.

Amy Tan
For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me.

For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me.

Amy Tan
Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.

Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.

Amy Tan
If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can lose her chance forever.
-An-mei

If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can lose her chance forever. -An-mei

Amy Tan