Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone.

Quote by Amy Tan

Topics: Amy Tan Quotes

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 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...

Memory feeds imagination.

Memory feeds imagination.

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...

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.'...

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....

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

My parents told me I would become a doctor and then in my spare time...

My parents told me I would become a doctor and then in my spare time...

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.

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 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.

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 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...