Quotes by 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.
– Amy Tan

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

Don’t think too much. That makes you believe you have more choices than you do. Then your mind becomes confused.
– Amy Tan

What is the past but what we choose to remember?
– Amy Tan

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

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

Memory feeds imagination.
– Amy Tan

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

You see what power is holding someone else’s fear in your hand and showing it to them.
– Amy Tan

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

You can have pride in what you do each day, but not arrogance in what you were born with.
– Amy Tan

A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.
– Amy Tan

I’d like to be more forgiving. There are times when I’ve had a hard time forgiving people who have betrayed me.
– Amy Tan

What is a secret wish? It is what you want but cannot ask.
– Amy Tan

Whenever others disapprove of you, you must disregard them and be the only one to judge your own decisions and actions.
– Amy Tan

You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.
– Amy Tan

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

Free time was the most precious time, when you should be doing what you loved, or at least slowing down enough to remember what made your life worthwhile and happy.
– Amy Tan

A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use.
– Amy Tan

You can never be an artist if your work comes without effort.
– Amy Tan

A good government had to guide its people, sometimes gently, sometimes strictly, just as parents did. It could allow certain freedoms, but in a style that suited the country.
– Amy Tan

Forever did not mean what it once had. Forever was what changed inevitably over time.
– Amy Tan

The life we receive is not always what we choose.
– Amy Tan

There are a lot of people who think that’s what’s needed to be successful is always being right, always being careful, always picking the right path.
– Amy Tan

You can’t stay in the dark for too long. Something inside you starts to fade, and you become like a starving person, crazy-hungry for light.
– Amy Tan

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

While it is good to speak well, it is better to speak the truth.
– Amy Tan

With hope, a mind is always free.
– Amy Tan

Writing is an extreme privilege but it’s also a gift. It’s a gift to yourself and it’s a gift of giving a story to someone.
– Amy Tan