Lisa See

“Wanting to give her the best fit I could, I sand the knowledge I had learned from Snow Flower. "Everyone needs clothing-no matter how cool it is in summer or how warm it is in winter-so make clothes for others without being asked. Even if the table is plentiful, let your in-laws eat first. Work hard and remember three things: Be god to your in-laws and always show respect, be good to your husband and always weave for him, be good to your children and always be a model of decorum to them. If you do these things, your new family will treat you kindly. In that fine home, be calm of heart.”

“I am old enough to know only too well my good and bad qualities, which were often one in the same.”

“All the time, I looked out our lattice window. I watched the birds fly by. I followed the clouds on their travels. I studied the moon as it grew larger, then shrank. So much happened outside my window that I almost forgot what was happening inside that room.”

“And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never age.”

“People write to me all the time, and I write back.”

“I write what I'm interested in.”

“I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.”

“I imagined my first night alone in bed with my stranger. I conjured our future years together unhampered by worries about money or officialdom. We would enjoy the day, the night, a smile, a word, a kiss, a glance. All lovely thoughts. All pointless dreams.”

“A book is one kind of an art form and a film is a different art form. I think as a writer you just have to say, well the book is one thing, and the film is a completely different one.”

“But, you know, I just did a big trip in the spring to Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand, and that's when I bought a Kindle. I have like 15 books on this one little gizmo. But when I came home, the first night I picked up the book that was on my nightstand and I went right back to that.”

“But there are certain books I would never put on a Kindle because you want to be able to look at graphs and photos or the footnotes and maps. You can't see that.”

“I love research. I'd go so far as to say I'm a research fanatic.”

“I write a thousand words a day.”

“You make choices that are good and sound, but the gods have other plans for you.”

“My hardcover sales are 17% down in books but up 400% in electronics.”

“I think to really be literate in nu shu you only need about 600 characters because it is phonetic. So you're able to then create many words out of one character.”