Gail Tsukiyama Quotes

Please, Matsu-san,' I told him, not long after the house was completed. 'I don't wish to have any flowers.'
Never once did he question me. I needed my life to be simple without any beauty to remind me of all I had lost. And though I had not told him that, Matsu must have seen it in my eyes. 'Don't worry, Sachi,' he said, 'there will be no flowers.

Just remember that life is made up of change. We can't run away from it.

Don't you think every face tells its own story? Like a book? More like a poem. If you study it long enough, you'll soon find its meaning.

We can't run away from what defines our fates. Who we are and what we believe in grow from the roots of our past, no matter how much we might try to deny it.

Just remember, Every day of your lives, you must always be sure what you're fighting for.

When the water boiled, Michiko poured it into the pot of green leaves and we both waited in the thick silence. I felt strangely calmed by this simple ritual I had seen my mother do many hundred times before. It was all that seemed to make sense in this place and I held on to it as if I were drowning.

Beauty exists where you least expect to find it.

Life is not just from within, it extends all around you, whether you wish it to or not.

To read and write will help you understand life ... to sew and mend will help you survive it.

Sometimes you can't let go of the past without facing it again.

He seemed to have a story no one had bothered to discover

Even a snail will eventually reach its destination.

The garden is a world filled with secrets. Slowly, I see more each day. The black pines twist and turn to form graceful shapes, while the moss is a carpet of green that invites you to sit by the pond. Even the stone lanterns, which dimly light the way at night, allow you to see only so much.

Nothing ever stands still," she told them. "And neither should you.

To be noble, ... was to account for the life you lived, to always account for your mistakes, and to have dignity and worth.

In the end, it doesn't matter what words are said or unsaid ... Life's mistakes are made whether you can see them or not. What counts is how we learn to live with them.

Nothing ever stands still, and neither should you.

Fear seems to be the ruling judge.

It takes the same amount of energy to worry about the worst thing that can happen as it does to hope for the best. It's up to you to choose.

Just don't ever think you deserve to be beaten.

Sometimes the house is so quiet I feel like the only noise that fills my mind is what I've created myself. Remembered conversations come back to me as if my friends and family were right here in the room.

To have strength without knowing how to use it means nothing.

Near the gardens, Pei stopped and caught her breath. She liked sweet-voiced Song Lee and hoped for the best in dealing with the other sisters, but Pei rememered all too well the different personalities that had affected her life, first at the girls' house, then at the silk factory and sisters' house. Dealing with so many people was often like playing a game of chess. There were so many pieces, all moving in different directions. It was always wise to guard all sides against capture.

It is not an act of bravery to try to save your own village. It is an instinct to protect what you possess. Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose.

It's harder than I imagined, to be alone. I suppose I might get used to it, like an empty canvas
you slowly begin to fill.

Grief was an opponent he would never be able to defeat.

Every so often I was overwhelmed by a phantom pain that cut through me like a knife. I was certain that if I looked down I would find blood all over, like the knife I once held in my hands, but it was all in my mind.

It takes greater courage to live.