Ha Jin Quotes

The more you move, the stronger you'll grow, not like a tree that can be killed if you uproot it.

But most good writers are Don Quixote at heart, and unreasonableness is often a condition of art.

It dawned on him that he had never loved a woman wholeheartedly and that he had always been the loved one. This must have been the reason why he knew so little about love and women. In other words, emotionally he hadn't grown up. His instinct and ability to love passionately had withered away before they had had an opportunity to blossom. If only he had fallen in love soulfully just once in his life, even though it might have broken his heart, paralyzed his mind, made him live in a daze, bathed his face in tears, and frowned him in despair!

Indifference is the strongest contempt.

Writing is not a great profession as a lot of writers proclaim. I write because this is something I can do. Another thing - very often I think a lot of writers write because they have failed to do other things. How many writers can't drive? A lot. They're not practical. They are not capable in everyday life.

I would even argue that, for many displaced people, nostalgia is also blended with fear - the fear of uncertainty and of facing the challenges posed by the larger world and the fear of the absence of the clarity and confidence provided by the past. In essence, nostalgia is associated mostly with the experience of a particular type of migrants, namely, exiles.

He sat down in a corner and ordered half a pound of dumplings, which came in a white bowl with a blue rim. While he was eating, his memory was further revived and sharpened by the familiar taste of the stuffing, made of pork, leeks, cabbage, dried shrimp, ginger, sesame oil. Every bit of the memory became unmistakable now.

To witness is to make the truth known, but we must remember that most victims have no voice of their own, and that in bearing witness to their stories we must not appropriate them.

I don't think of myself as a dissident, and I'm more of an immigrant than an exile,

Without answering, he pulled the comforter over his head. If only he could sleep a few days in a row. He felt sorry for himself and sick of everything.

You said, 'Life is a tragedy, but its meaning lies in how we face the tragedy.

English has more flexibility. It's a very plastic, very shapeable, very expressive language. In that sense it feels quite natural.

You strive to have a good heart. But what is a heart? Just a chunk of flesh that a dog can eat.

In short, he must be loyal only to his art.

At home you could depend on your parents, but in America you are on your own and should make as many friends as you can . . . You don't know who may hold out a helpful hand in your hour of need.

Once you've done it with him, he won't abandon you. If he really loves you, if he's a man with a heart, he'll follow you wherever you go. If he doesn't, he isn't the man you want, is he?

Liya's letter threw her parents