I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.

Quote by Amy Tan

Topics: Amy Tan Quotes

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...

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.

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...

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 also thought of playing improvisational jazz and I did take lessons for a while....

I also thought of playing improvisational jazz and I did take lessons for a while....

There are a lot of people who think that's what's needed to be successful is...

There are a lot of people who think that's what's needed to be successful is...

I was intelligent enough to make up my own mind. I not only had freedom...

I was intelligent enough to make up my own mind. I not only had freedom...

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...

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

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

God, life changes faster than you think.

God, life changes faster than you think.

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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.