Lisa See Quotes

Quotes about:

• Having a baby is painful in order to show how serious a thing life is.

  Lisa See

  Life, Baby, Children

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.150, A&C Black

  43 Copy quote

• I am old enough to know only too well my good and bad qualities, which were often one in the same.

  Lisa See

  Quality, Bad Qualities, Enough

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Random House Reader's Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel”, p.5, Random House

  13 Copy quote

• a laotong relationship is made by choice...when we first looked in each other's eyes in the palanquin I felt something special pass between us--like a spark to start a fire or a seed to grow rice. But a single spark is not enough to warm a room nor is a single seed enough to grow a fruitful crop. Deep love--true-heart love--must grow.

  Lisa See

  Eye, Heart, Deep Love

  0 Copy quote

• Seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. Doing something once is better than seeing it a hundred times.

  Lisa See

  Hearing, Hundred, Seeing

  Lisa See (2012). “Dreams of Joy”, p.95, A&C Black

  9 Copy quote

• Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.

  Lisa See

  Book, Reading, Writing

  11 Copy quote

• Don't ever feel that you have to hide who you are. Nothing good ever comes from keeping secrets like that.

  Lisa See

  Keeping Secrets, Secret, Feels

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.158, A&C Black

  7 Copy quote

• We're told that men are strong & brave, but I think women know how to endure, accept defeat & bear physical & mental agony much better than men.

  Lisa See

  Strong, Men, Thinking

  7 Copy quote

• People come in and out of our lives, and the true test of friendship is whether you can pick back up right where you left off the last time you saw each other.

  Lisa See

  People, Tests, Lasts

  "Lisa See: Best-selling Author Talks Female Friendships, Adapting Her Novel To Film". Interview with Lucas Kavner, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 12, 2011.

  5 Copy quote

• I wonder if there was anything I would have done differently. I hope I would have done everything differently, except I know everything would have turned out the same. That's the meaning of fate.

  Lisa See

  Fate, Done, Wonder

  Lisa See (2013). “Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy: Two Bestselling Novels”, p.413, Random House

  0 Copy quote

• People say you need to be strong, smart, and lucky to survive hard times, war, a natural disaster, or physical torture. But I say emotional abuse—anxiety, fear, guilt, and degradation—is far worse and much harder to survive.

  Lisa See

  Strong, War, Smart

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.35, A&C Black

  26 Copy quote

• You make choices that are good and sound, but the gods have other plans for you.

  Lisa See

  Choices, Sound, Plans

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Random House Reader's Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel”, p.190, Random House

  4 Copy quote

• He was in my hair, my eyes, my fingers, my heart. I day-dreamed about what he was doing, thinking, seeing, smelling, feeling. I could not eat for thoughts of him.

  Lisa See

  Heart, Eye, Thinking

  Lisa See (2011). “Peony in Love”, p.71, A&C Black

  6 Copy quote

• Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want.

  Lisa See

  Want, What You Want

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Random House Reader's Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel”, p.157, Random House

  0 Copy quote

• You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less than a cultivated woman.

  Lisa See

  May, Desperate

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Random House Reader's Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel”, p.128, Random House

  0 Copy quote

• In every message she spoke of birds, of flight, of the world away. Even back then, she flew against what was presented to her. I wanted to cling to her wings and soar, no matter how intimidated I was.

  Lisa See

  Wings, Bird, World

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”, p.78, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• When I knew I couldn't suffer another moment of pain, and tears fell on my bloody bindings, my mother spoke softly into my ear, encouraging me to go one more hour, one more day, one more week, reminding me of the rewards I would have if I carried on a little longer. In this way, she taught me how to endure — not just the physical trials of footbinding and childbearing but the more torturous pain of the heart, mind, and soul.

  Lisa See

  Mother, Pain, Heart

  0 Copy quote

• In our country we call this type of mother love teng ai. My son has told me that in men's writing it is composed of two characters. The first means pain; the second means love. That is a mother's love.

  Lisa See

  Mother, Country, Pain

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”, p.2, A&C Black

  3 Copy quote

• While she is lovely, we need to remember that her face is not what distinguishes her. Her beauty is a reflection of the virtue and talent she keeps inside.

  Lisa See

  Reflection, Lovely, Needs

  Lisa See (2011). “Peony in Love”, p.33, A&C Black

  5 Copy quote

• When you don’t have much, having less isn’t so bad.

  Lisa See

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.52, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• A brave heart? It feels like a swollen and aching thing in my chest.

  Lisa See

  Heart, Brave, Feels

  Lisa See (2013). “Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy: Two Bestselling Novels”, p.794, Random House

  0 Copy quote

• My love for him had never gone away but only changed, growing deeper like wine fermenting or pickles curing. It bore into me with the pervasiveness of water working its way to the center of a mountain.

  Lisa See

  Wine, Gone Away, Water

  Lisa See (2011). “Peony in Love”, p.190, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• i would rather be married to broken jade than flawless clay

  Lisa See

  Broken, Clay, Flawless

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.114, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• May and I are sisters. We'll always fight, but we'll always make up as well. That's what sisters do: we argue, we point out each other's frailties, mistakes, and bad judgment, we flash the insecurities we've had since childhood, and then we come back together. Until the next time.

  Lisa See

  Sister, Mistake, Fighting

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.132, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• For my entire life I longed for love. I knew it was not right for me — as a girl and later as a woman — to want or expect it, but I did, and this unjustified desire has been at the root of every problem I have experienced in my life.

  Lisa See

  Girl, Roots, Desire

  Lisa See (2011). “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”, p.1, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

• Maybe we're all like that with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they're extraordinary.

  Lisa See

  Mother, One Day, Ordinary

  Lisa See (2010). “Shanghai Girls”, p.42, A&C Black

  0 Copy quote

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