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Amy Tan

Amy Tan Quotes

Film writer

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Famous Amy Tan Quotes

“My mother imparted her daily truths so she could help my older brothers and me rise above our circumstances. We lived in San Francisco's Chinatown. Like most of the other Chinese children who played in the back alleys of restaurants and curio shops, I didn't think we were poor. My bowl was always full, three five-course meals every day, beginning with a soup full of mysterious things I didn't want to know the names of.”

ThinkingKnowsWantChildrenHelpingMotherThreeCoursesNamesPoorFamilyFiveBrotherCircumstancesMysteriousChineseMealsRestaurantsShopsBowlsSoupSan FranciscoRise AboveAlleysOlder BrotherMysterious ThingsChinatownBack Alleys
Book:The Joy Luck Club
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“She [my mother] said that if I listened to her, later I would know what she knew: where true words came from, always from up high, above everything else. And if I didn't listen to her, she said my ear would bend too easily to other people, all saying words that had no lasting meaning, because they came from the bottom of their hearts, where their own desires lived, a place where I could not belong.”

PeopleIfsKnowsHeartSaidMotherDesireListeningEarsBottomLastingTrue Words
Book:The Joy Luck Club
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“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.”

KnowsLooksLongHandsEyeTogetherMotherThreeSpeakWishWatchesTearsColorArmsMouthsMy FamilyMy SisterFlashGreySnapshotsSharpeningPolaroidsBright Colors
Author:Amy Tan
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“That is the saddest part when you lose someone you love - that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the same person I lost? Maybe you lost more maybe less, then thousand different things that come from your memory or imagination - and you do not know which is which, which was true, which is false.”

KnowsPersonsDifferentLostLosesImaginationMemoriesWonderThousandDifferent ThingsSaddestSomeone You Love
Book:The Kitchen God's Wife
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“I let one thing result from another. Of course, all of it could have been just loosely connected coincidences. And whether that's true or not, I know the intention was there. Becasue when I want something to happen-or not happen- I begin to look at all events and all things as relevant, an opportunity to take or avoid.”

KnowsWantLooksHas BeensHappensCoursesOpportunityResultsOne ThingEventsAll ThingsIntentionConnectedRelevantCoincidenceCould Have BeenWant Something
Book:The Joy Luck Club
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