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

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 read a book a day when I was a kid. My family was not...

I read a book a day when I was a kid. My family was not...

Memory feeds imagination.

Memory feeds imagination.

You can get sucked into the idea that, 'Gosh, this is impressive. Maybe I should...

You can get sucked into the idea that, 'Gosh, this is impressive. Maybe I should...

Placing on writers the responsibility to represent a culture is an onerous burden.

Placing on writers the responsibility to represent a culture is an onerous burden.

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...

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...

I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the...

I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the...

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...

I would find myself laughing and wondering where these ideas came from. You can call...

I would find myself laughing and wondering where these ideas came from. You can call...

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 used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't...

I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't...

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...

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...

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...

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...

We are the kind of people who obsess over one word... but we have only...

We are the kind of people who obsess over one word... but we have only...

I learned to forgive myself, and that enabled me to forgive my mother as a...

I learned to forgive myself, and that enabled me to forgive my mother as a...

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

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

No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have...

No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have...