Li Quotes

People keep pushing me to be the center of attention ... I would prefer to be on the sidelines, because that's where you see more. ~ Gong Li

I am aware that, every time I have a conversation with a book, I benefit from someone's decision against silence. ~ Yiyun Li

If you are a big company, a big website, and lots of users come to your website, you will have attacks, and you have to deal with that. It just cannot be a reason to take actions to exit certain markets. ~ Robin Li

Oddly enough, I've always - I've never actually seen "The Alamo" itself, actually. So I don't really have the association of "Green Leaves of Summer" as being "The Alamo" theme. Oddly enough, I grew up watching kung fu movies. They would use the theme "Green Leaves of Summer" in a lot of needle drops in kung fu movies a lot. So I was actually more familiar with it in a Bruce Li movie than I was actually from the John Wayne film. ~ Quentin Tarantino

When there's downward pressure on growth, one choice is to adjust economic policy, increase deficits, relax monetary policy. That might have a short-term benefit, but may not be beneficial for the future. ~ Li Keqiang

I was a total floral hippie as a child so when I finally could make my own choices, I've been living in different black suit jackets and been really drawn to masculine clothes. ~ Lykke Li

The world today needs both western thinking and oriental vision. ~ Li Keqiang

Master Li, how are we going to murder a man who laughs at axes?" I asked.
We are going to experiment, dear boy. Our first order of business will be to find a deranged alchemist, which should not be very difficult. China," said Master Li, "is overstocked with deranged alchemists. ~ Barry Hughart

From some home a jade flute sends dark notes drifting,
Scattering on the spring wind that fills Lo-yang.
Tonight, if we should hear the willow-breaking song,
Who could help but long for the gardens of home? ~ Li Bai

As a historical legacy, the Kashmir conflict has been an outstanding issue for more than half a century. ~ Li Peng

I often hear actors say during their interviews: 'I want to play a crazy person, a murderer, or someone who's on edge.' But that question scares me. I mean, of course there are characters I'd like to play, but I can't really say specifically who they are. It's much too hard to play a convincing normal person as it is. ~ Li Bingbing

I don't want to break someone's heart, but you can't control that. A broken heart happens; that's inevitable. ~ Lykke Li

No matter how senior an official is, if he violates party discipline and the law of the country, he will be seriously dealt with and punished. ~ Li Keqiang

But at home he was our humorous, kind, and wise Dad. He loved reading, and he loved including the whole family in his discoveries. He ~ Ji-li Jiang

No one understands now. Those who could
hear a song this deeply vanished long ago. ~ Li Bai

Every place is a good place, only time goes wrong. ~ Yiyun Li

I love Adele and Lykke Li. I also listen to classical music as well. ~ Birdy

Many people in the world believe that in the 21st century, the Asia-Pacific - Asia in particular - will play a more important role in global economy and politics and that Asia will become an important engine for the world economy. ~ Li Keqiang

There is no pure success. I am action actor. I have broken almost every piece of my body. ~ Jet Li

Zhang Yimou is one of the best directors on mainland China. ~ Jet Li

TEKELI-LI. Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li. I got that from Pym. I got that from Poe. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe, specifically. Pym that is maddening, Pym that is brilliance, Pym whose failures entice instead of repel. Pym that flows and ignites and Pym that becomes so entrenched it stagnates for hundreds of words at a time. A book that at points makes no sense, gets wrong both history and science, and yet stumbles into an emotional truth greater than both. ~ Mat Johnson

His mother had always been a headstrong woman, and with her grayish-white mane and unsmiling face, she appeared as regal and intimidating as she had ever been. Still, seeing her through other people's eyes, Hanfeng realized that all that made her who she was - the decades of solitude in her widowhood, her coldness to the prying eyes of people who tried to mask their nosiness with friendliness, and her faith in the notion of living one's own life without having to go out of one's way for other people - could be deemed pointless and laughable. Perhaps the same could be said of any living creature: a caterpillar chewing on a leaf, unaware of the beak of an approaching bird; an egret mesmerized by its reflection in a pond, as if it were the master of the universe; or Hanfeng's own folly of repeating the same pattern of hope and heartbreak, hoping despite heartbreak. ~ Yiyun Li

A lot of times females are in charge because they kind of have the pussy power. If they say, "I'm you're prostitute," then they mean, "I'm the power." ~ Lykke Li

To pull the metal splinter from my palm my father recited a story in a low voice. I watched his lovely face and not the blade. Before the story ended, he'd removed the iron sliver I thought I'd die from. I can't remember the tale, but hear his voice still, a well of dark water, a prayer. And I recall his hands, two measures of tenderness he laid against my face. ~ Li-Young Lee

I'm more old school: I want to be like Keith Richards on stage. It's not interesting to see straight-from-runway clothes slapped on an artist. It's more interesting when you see people who have their own style. ~ Lykke Li

Our dia continued. 'When I was twenty-one years old, my niang told me that I was to marry a nice girl aged eighteen. I told her, "I don't want to marry anyone, I don't know how to be a husband." She replied, "All you have to do is love her. She will teach you the rest about life." Little did I know then, but by fate I had married a rare jewel, the most precious jewel I could ever wish for. I treasured and loved her from the time I lifted her veil. I still love her today and will love her for the remainder of my humble life. ~ Li Cunxin

If I can help Americans to understand China, and the Chinese to learn about the United States, even a little, I will feel very rewarded. I ~ Ji-li Jiang

Elder Lian has lectured us many times on proper behavior between boys and
girls, darkly warning of how "dangerous feelings" can arise. I'm not that worried
about any feelings arising, though. They're already here, no matter how I try to
suppress them. ~ Richelle Mead

I do some of my stunts for the things I have learned. But if it is for something I have never learned, then I use a double. ~ Jet Li

Getting silver and gold out of junk machinery was quick to be learnt by others. ~ Li Shufu

Isolation, I was reminded again and again, is a danger. But what if one's real context is in books? Some days, going from one book to another, preoccupied with thoughts that were of no importance, I would feel a rare moment of serenity: all that could not be solved in my life was merely a trifle as long as I kept it at a distance. Between that suspended life and myself were these dead people and imagined characters. One could spend one's days among them as a child arranges a circle of stuffed animals when the darkness of night closes in. ~ Yiyun Li

That was the peak. I just knew it was modern, not traditional culture. I could be cool ~ Li Peng

The middle class is growing that's the reality that nobody can stop. ~ Li Fan

One Heart"

Look at the birds. Even flying
is born

out of nothing. The first sky
is inside you, Friend, open

at either end of day.
The work of wings

was always freedom, fastening
one heart to every falling thing. ~ Li-Young Lee

I know that I'm dealing with some kind of wound through my music. ~ Lykke Li

My favorite thing in the world is to have just a big dinner with friends and just sit and talk about their life and their difficulties and all of that. ~ Lykke Li

After you've been wounded a few times, it's hard to let somebody get that deep again. ~ Lykke Li

And on the way, we'll have plenty of time to talk or not talk about whatever's on your mind ~ Justin Somper

I believe the auto industry is a competition of human resources, competition of funding, competition of technology - and the competition is international. ~ Li Shufu

That's how I'd ended up lying flat on my back, Archer's sword still clutched in my hand, my head aching. Maybe I could just li here and wait for Mom to find me. That would be convenient.
I sighed as the wind rustled the leaves overhead. Yep, that was a solid plan. Lie here on the ground and wait for someone to come to me. ~ Rachel Hawkins

Digging her hand into her pocket, she fished out the keys, and tossed them to him. It's not like she had a choice. She couldn't wrestle the gun away from him. It may work for Jet Li in the movies, but it wouldn't work for Jenna Winter in real life. ~ Ann Greyson

Design is very, very critical for the success of the car. We want to find the distinctive features for Chinese cars on the world stage. ~ Li Shufu

Why do I keep thinking of her alluva sudden?! Especially when the only time my face gets red and my heart starts puonding ... is when I see him! -Syaoran Li ~ CLAMP

In pursuing reform, we have to navigate uncharted waters. We may also have to confront protracted problems because we will have to shake up vested interests. ~ Li Keqiang

In this fast-developing world, particularly in the fast-transforming China market, we really need to take this opportunity and offer a modern interpretation of Scandinavian design which fits people's demands perfectly. ~ Li Shufu

One man's mistake can capsize a whole ship of people."
"True. ~ Yiyun Li

We lived in a farm village, and no one could afford to buy a car or to fly. We were envious. We couldn't afford any toys. I couldn't imagine making a real car. ~ Li Shufu

Li, a willowy manboy with a shock of black hair atop a mouthful of bad teeth was the brother-in-law he had introduced to industrial espionage several years back. Rong often regretted that. ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

That's what I want, that kind of recklessness where the poem is even ahead of you. It's like riding a horse that's a little too wild for you, so there's this tension between what you can do and what the horse decides it's going to do. ~ Li-Young Lee

A pity it is evening, yet
I do love the water of this spring
seeing how clear it is, how clean;
rays of sunset gleam on it,
lighting up its ripples, making it
one with those who travel
the roads; I turn and face
the moon; sing it a song, then
listen to the sound of the wind
amongst the pines. ~ Li Bai

We are not selling the black cab in large enough volumes. We want to expand globally. ~ Li Shufu

You ask me why I dwell
amidst these jade-green hills?
I smile. No words can tell
the stillness in my heart.
Peach blossoms drift streamwater
away deep in mystery.
I live in the other world
one that lies beyond the human. ~ Li Bai

Being a mother must be the saddest yet the most hopeful thing in the world, falling into a love that, once started, would never end. ~ Yiyun Li

...in principle, one can predict everything in the universe solely from physical laws. Thus, the long-standing 'first cause' problem intrinsic in cosmology has been finally dispelled. ~ Li Zhi Fang

Gripping her finger, I brought it to my lips and kissed it, my chest almost exploding as I confessed, "Because I fuckin' love you, Li...I'm fuckin' insane over you. You ain't no burden."
Lilah sucked in a deep breath and her eyes widened. "Ky...why?"
I huffed out a laugh. "Stupid fuckin' question, sweet cheeks," I replied. "Like asking me the impossible. I just do. I fuckin' love your crazy pilgrim ass. ~ Tillie Cole

I always strive for freedom: freedom of thought and expression. ~ Lykke Li

I'm afraid sometimes certain individual cases of defaults are unavoidable. What we should do is to step up monitoring, properly handle relevant matters, and ensure there is no regional and systemic financial risk. ~ Li Keqiang

Now let you and me buy wine today! Why say we have not the price? My horse spotted with five flowers, My fur-coat worth a thousand pieces of gold, These I will take out, and call my boy To barter them for sweet wine. And with you twain, let me forget The sorrow of ten thousand ages! ~ Li Bai

To win countrywide victory is only the first step in a long march of ten thousand li ... The Chinese revolution is great, but the road after the revolution will be longer, the work greater and more arduous. This must be made clear now in the Party. The comrades must be helped to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work. The comrades must be helped to preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle. ~ Mao Zedong

It was 'Shaolin Temple,' Jet Li's first movie. That was the movie that got me to want to learn martial arts. Then I became a huge Jet Li/Jackie Chan fan after that. ~ Daniel Wu

I don't like realism. We already know the real facts about li[fe], most of the basic facts. I'm not interested in repeating what we already know. We know about sex, about violence, about murder, about war. All these things, by the time we're 18, we're up to here. From there on we need interpreters. We need poets. We need philosophers. We need theologians, who take the same basic facts and work with them and help us make do with those facts. Facts alone are not enough. It's interpretation. ~ Ray Bradbury

FORGIVE FAILURE. The corollary to accountability is forgiveness. Things go wrong all the time in relationships, and the healthiest ones move on from them, leaving behind grudges and blame. This is not to say that failure is accepted; rather, that it is acknowledged and understood. ~ Charlene Li

Changes call for innovation, and innovation leads to progress. ~ Li Keqiang

Africa has a time-honored and brilliant civilization. ~ Li Keqiang

Where I've been hasn't influenced my music. It's more what I listen to. You can find music everywhere, so moving hasn't really influenced my music, more me as a person. ~ Lykke Li

It's long since I've gone to the East Mountains.
How many seasons have the tiny roses bloomed?
White clouds - unblown - fall apart.
In whose court has the bright moon dropped? ~ Li Bai

I have spent much of my life turning away from the scripts given to me, in China and in America; my refusal to be defined by the will of others is my one and only political statement. ~ Yiyun Li

When I lived in Hong Kong, I felt that Hong Kong is my family. ~ Jet Li

To celebrate his prosperity, fellow employees and friends urged him to take a young concubine to "serve him". Even Ye Ye's boss, the London-educated K. C. Li, jokingly volunteered to "give" him a couple of girls with his bonus. Ye Ye reported all this in a matter-of-fact way in a letter to his wife, adding touchingly that he was a "one-woman man". ~ Adeline Yen Mah

The wheel outside the door is just the moon.
The objects hanging from the eaves, just the autumn clouds ~ Liang Li

The phenomenon of laborers staying on at the end of their contracts with big public works companies is likely the biggest single source of Chinese migration to Africa. Workers would arrive from a given locality in China and discover there was good money to be made in some corner of an Africa they had never before imagined viable. Soon, they were sending word back home about the fortunes to be made there, or the hospitality of the locals, or the wonders of the environment, or the joys of a free and relatively pressureless life. In short order, others would follow. Li ~ Howard W. French

Before I had studied Zen for thirty years,
I saw mountains as mountains,
and waters as waters.
When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains,
and waters are not waters.
But now that I have got its very substance
I am at rest.
For it's just that
I see mountains once again as mountains,
and waters once again as waters. ~ Li Ching-Yuen

Liupan the Mountain of Six Circles Dazzling sky to the far cirrus clouds. I gaze at wild geese vanishing into the south. If we cannot reach the Long Wall we are not true men. On my fingers I count the twenty thousand li we have already marched. On the summit of Liupan the west wind lazily ripples our red banner. Today we have the long rope in our hands. When will we tie up the gray dragon of the seven stars? ~ Mao Zedong

In China, I helped introduce UNEP's campaign to reduce food waste on World Environment Day. The government took notice of food waste issues and now, when you over-order in a restaurant, you are encouraged to downsize. This is where people can really impact policy and vice versa! ~ Li Bingbing

I love Jet Li, he's really special. ~ Bridget Fonda

Governments at all levels and the whole society should act more vigorously to protect the land our lives depend on. ~ Li Keqiang

Big squidhead lies a-sleeping at the bottom of the sea,
And one day, when the stars are right, he'll wake up presently,
And then may wipe us all out, which sounds worrying to me,
While the Tcho-Tcho sing this song…

Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Cthulhu!
Cosmic horror coming to you,
The Old Ones are back now with a view to
Sucking out your brains.

Big Squidhead lies a-sleeping, although, in a way, he's dead.
There are dreams that change reality a-running round his head.
He lies in dread R'lyeh, which is on the ocean bed.
But pops up and down for fun.

And the Tcho-Tcho sing
Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Yog-Sothoth!
The streets will be chockablock with shoggoth,
How sweetly their cries 'Tekeli-li!' doth
Improve the slimy hour.

Big Squidhead lies a-scheming at the bottom of the sea,
He is counting out the aeons that make up eternity,
And when he's done, it's curtains for the mast majority,
While the Tcho-Tcho get on down.

Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Shub-Niggurath!
We're on the winning side to see the aftermath,
Put on your marching boots because we're on the path,
To the end times, here we come!
To the end times, here we come!
To the end times! Here! We! Coooooooooome! ~ Jonathan L. Howard

I do it live on tape with a band. It's not like I'm doing electronic music with a laptop. ~ Lykke Li

The profession I have keeps dragging me into drama and taking me away from baking, flowering and gardening. ~ Lykke Li

I would never describe a cloud as 'fluffy' - in Chinese or in English. ~ Yiyun Li

Life and Death

The living are but passers-by,
And those are going home who die.
The sky and earth are hotels just
For all to grieve over age-old dust.
The Moon Goddess lives long in vain;
The sacred tree's cut down with pain.
The bleached bones can nor speak nor sing.
Could green pines feel the warmth of spring?
Ancestors and posterity,
Don't prize but sigh for vanity. ~ Li Bai

Sandalwood"


The ash keeps dropping from the incense stick.

I keep turning you over in my mind.
I keep turning you over in my heart.

The stick shortens, burning.
The ash grows
and falls.

I keep turning you over.
I keep turning you.
I keep turning.

The ash keeps falling, piling up, more
of the silent reduction.

Burning earns such clean wages,
eye of ember, eye of ash hastening.

I keep turning your eyes over
to find your thoughts.
Turning your voice over
to find your meaning.
Turning your body over to find
a place to hide me.

And you keep turning inside me. ~ Li-Young Lee

Moonlight and high wind.
Dark poplars toss, insinuate the sea. ~ Li-Young Lee

I would like to say now I was very enjoy the life right now. ~ Li Na

I think everything in life comes in threes: heartbreak and all that. You've got to do the full round in order to learn. ~ Lykke Li

They found security in letting go rather than in holding on and, in so doing, developed an attitude toward life that might be called psychophysical judo. Nearly twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese sages Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu had called it wu-wei, which is perhaps best translated as "action without forcing." It is sailing in the stream of the Tao, or course of nature, and navigating the currents of li (organic pattern) - a word that originally signified the natural markings in jade or the grain in wood. As this attitude spread and prevailed in the wake of Vibration Training, people became more and more indulgent about eccentricity in life-style, tolerant of racial and religious differences, and adventurous in exploring unusual ways of loving. ~ Alan W. Watts

Everything too fast is not good but everything too slow is also not good. You need balance. That's why I like martial arts: it always tells you how to control your body, your mind, your heart. Balance. Balance can keep the world's peace. I think that's a very good thing. ~ Jet Li

Life is greater when I'm dealing with something than when I'm just dreaming away. ~ Lykke Li

You think
of a woman, a favorite
dress, your old father's breasts
the last time you saw him, his breath,
brief, the leaf
you've torn from a vine and which you hold now
to your cheek like a train ticket
or a piece of cloth, a little hand or a blade
it all depends
on the course of your memory.
It's a place
for those who own no place
to correspond to ruins in the soul.
It's mine.
It's all yours. ~ Li-Young Lee

I'm always looking for silhouettes that seem 'invisible' to the eye, as in that it's so well-tailored to your body that you won't even notice what you're wearing. It needs to be dramatic in a subtle way. ~ Lykke Li

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way. ~ Li Bai

The Americans' happy smiles also made us nervous. This is not what it is supposed to be like. Something is wrong here. They are our enemies. Behind those smiling faces will be a hidden agenda. I'll find out what it is soon, I said to myself. ~ Li Cunxin

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. ~ Yiyun Li

Music and fashion are a sign of the times and a reflection of what people want and need at this very day and age. ~ Lykke Li

Sand castles just aren't made to last. ~ Alice Yi-Li Yeh

You just have to realize that Jet Li is a movie star. He's great at what he does, but if he stepped into our world he wouldn't last long. ~ Chuck Liddell

I don't think of myself as a star. An actress is nothing remarkable. ~ Gong Li

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom. ~ Li-Young Lee

Memory is sweet.
Even when it's painful, memory is sweet. ~ Li-Young Lee

The Chinese government knows that what I am teaching is good and that I am teaching people to have high moral values. ~ Li Hongzhi