Yiyun Li Quotes

Writer

Yiyun Li, born on November 4, 1972, is a prominent Chinese writer known for her profound character portrayal and unique narrative style. Her works have won wide acclaim from readers.

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All People Thinking Writing Children Way Chinese Firsts Life Character Death

Famous Yiyun Li Quotes

“The boy will remain a son and never become a father. He will be forgotten by the crowd once his blood is rinsed clean from the ground; his sister will think of him but soon she will forget him, too. He will live on only in Han's memory, a child punished not for his own insincerity but someone else's disbelief.”

Thinking Children Father Memories Forget Boys Blood Son Clean Forgotten Crowds Disbelief Insincerity Forget Him

Author:Yiyun Li

“Mrs. Pang was once a nanny for me, and she spoils me the way I imagined kindhearted women would spoil an orphan, loving me for whom I am, exactly the opposite of my mother, whose love I have to earn with great effort and with little success.”

Way Littles Mother Effort Opposites Spoil Orphan Nannies Great Effort Loving Me

Book:A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories

Source: A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories

“The decaying that had dragged on for too long had only turned tragedy into nuisance; death, when it strikes, better completes its annihilating act on the first try.”

Trying Firsts Long Tragedy Strikes Nuisance

Book:Kinder Than Solitude

Source: Kinder Than Solitude

“To write about a struggle amidst the struggling: one must hope that the muddling will end someday.”

Writing Ends Struggle Someday

Author:Yiyun Li

“What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let go, every before replaced by an after.”

Ifs Way Writing Long Letting Go Distance Replaced Long Way

Book:Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life

Source: Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life

“A real dreamer must have a mutual trust with time.”

Real Mutual Dreamer Mutual Trust

Author:Yiyun Li

“I would never describe a cloud as 'fluffy'—in Chinese or in English.”

Clouds Chinese Fluffy

Author:Yiyun Li

“Even the most innocent person, when cornered, is capable of a heartless crime.”

Persons Crime Capable Innocent Heartless Cornered Innocent Person

Book:Kinder Than Solitude: A Novel

Source: Kinder Than Solitude: A Novel

“Almost all of the stories in The Matchmaker, the Apprentice, and the Football Fan are told in the first person, yet, depending on the angle and distance of the narrator, they exert different effects. The best are those in which the speaker never poses as an objective outsider. (...) Other stories are damaged by the urge to distance the narrator.”

Firsts Persons Different Stories Fans Effects Football Distance Objectives Urges Speakers Outsiders Angle First Person Apprentice Narrators Football Fan

Author:Yiyun Li

“She wonders if this is what people call falling in love, the desire to be with someone for every minute of the rest of her life so strong that sometimes she is frightened of herself.”

People Ifs Sometimes Desire Fall Strong Wonder Minutes Falling In Love Frightened

Book:A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories

Source: A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories

About the Author

Born: November 4, 1972
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 60

Books & Sources

Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your LifeRelated source material

Gold Boy, Emerald GirlRelated source material

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: StoriesRelated source material

The Book of GooseRelated source material

Where Reasons EndRelated source material

Things in Nature Merely GrowRelated source material

Kinder Than SolitudeRelated source material

Kinder Than Solitude: A NovelRelated source material

The Vagrants: A NovelRelated source material

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