No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have encouragement, but I didn't have discouragement, because I don't think anybody knew what that meant.

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...

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 didn't fear failure. I expected failure.

I didn't fear failure. I expected failure.

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

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

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....

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 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...

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 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.

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...

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,...

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...

God, life changes faster than you think.

God, life changes faster than you think.

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 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 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...

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...

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.

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

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

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...