I think I've always been somebody, since the deaths of my father and brother, who was afraid to hope. So, I was more prepared for failure and for rejection than for success.

Quote by Amy Tan

Topics: Amy Tan Quotes

The forbidden things were a great influence on my life. I was forbidden from reading...

The forbidden things were a great influence on my life. I was forbidden from reading...

My mother said I was a clingy kid until I was about four. I also...

My mother said I was a clingy kid until I was about four. I also...

God, life changes faster than you think.

God, life changes faster than you think.

It's both rebellion and conformity that attack you with success.

It's both rebellion and conformity that attack you with success.

Memory feeds imagination.

Memory feeds imagination.

Words to me were magic. You could say a word and it could conjure up...

Words to me were magic. You could say a word and it could conjure up...

In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you.

In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you.

I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I...

I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I...

If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.

If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.

My mother had a very difficult childhood, having seen her own mother kill herself. So...

My mother had a very difficult childhood, having seen her own mother kill herself. So...

I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another...

I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another...

I wanted to write stories for myself. At first it was purely an aesthetic thing...

I wanted to write stories for myself. At first it was purely an aesthetic thing...

I have a writer's memory which makes everything worse than maybe it actually was.

I have a writer's memory which makes everything worse than maybe it actually was.

I started a second novel seven times and I had to throw them away.

I started a second novel seven times and I had to throw them away.

Language is the tool of my trade -and I use them all - all the...

Language is the tool of my trade -and I use them all - all the...

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself...

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself...

My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the...

My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the...

You write a book and you hope somebody will go out and pay $24.95 for...

You write a book and you hope somebody will go out and pay $24.95 for...

It's a luxury being a writer, because all you ever think about is life.

It's a luxury being a writer, because all you ever think about is life.

I would still like to have that luxury, to be able to just sit and...

I would still like to have that luxury, to be able to just sit and...