I would find myself laughing and wondering where these ideas came from. You can call it imagination, I suppose. But I was grateful for wherever they came from.

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...

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 loved fairy tales when I was a kid. Grimm. The grimmer the better. I...

I loved fairy tales when I was a kid. Grimm. The grimmer the better. I...

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.

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 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.

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...

That was a wonderful period in my life. I mean, I didn't become an artist,...

That was a wonderful period in my life. I mean, I didn't become an artist,...

People think it's a terrible tragedy when somebody has Alzheimer's. But in my mother's case,...

People think it's a terrible tragedy when somebody has Alzheimer's. But in my mother's case,...

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 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...

She said 'I'm by commission. You don't have to pay anything until you sell anything.'...

She said 'I'm by commission. You don't have to pay anything until you sell anything.'...

God, life changes faster than you think.

God, life changes faster than you think.

I think I've always been somebody, since the deaths of my father and brother, who...

I think I've always been somebody, since the deaths of my father and brother, who...

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...

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 both rebellion and conformity that attack you with success.

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

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....

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...

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...