Quotes from M. Butterfly

“I'm happy. Which often looks like crazy.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Sometimes I hate you, sometimes I hate myself, but always I miss you”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Tonight, I've finally learned to tell fantasy from reality. And, knowing the difference, I choose fantasy.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“As soon as a Western man comes into contact with the East -- he's already confused. The West has sort of an international rape mentality towards the East. ...Basically, 'Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes.' The West thinks of itself as masculine -- big guns, big industry, big money -- so the East is feminine -- weak, delicate, poor...but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom -- the feminine mystique. Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes. The West believes the East, deep down, wants to be dominated -- because a woman can't think for herself. ...You expect Oriental countries to submit to your guns, and you expect Oriental women to be submissive to your men.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Consider it this way: what would you say if a blond homecoming queen fell in love with a short Japanese businessman? He treats her cruelly, then goes home for three years, during which time she prays to his picture and turns down marriage from a young Kennedy. Then, when she learns he has remarried, she kills herself. Now I believe you should consider this girl to be a deranged idiot, correct? But because it's an Oriental who kills herself for a Westerner–ah!–you find it beautiful.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Why, in the Peking Opera, are women's roles played by men?...Because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Now I see -- we are always most revolted by the things hidden within us.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“It just hangs there. This little... flap of flesh. And there's so much fuss that we make about it. I think the reason we fight wars is because we wear clothes. Because no one knows–between the men, I mean–who has the bigger... weenie. So. if I’m a guy with a small one, I’m going to build a really big building or take over a really big piece of land or write a really long book so the other men don’t know, right? But see, it never really works, that's the problem. I mean, you conquer the country, or whatever, but you’re still wearing clothes, so there’s no way to prove absolutely whose is bigger or smaller. And that’s what we call a civilized society. The whole world run by a bunch of men with pricks the size of pins.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Gallimard: You have to do what I say! I'm conjuring you up in my mind!
Song: Rene, I've never done what you've said. Why should it be any different in your mind?”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Gallimard: It's... a pure sacrifice. He's unworthy, but what can she do? She loves him... so much. It's a very beautiful story.
Song: Well, yes, to a Westerner.
Gallimard: Exuse me?
Song: It's one of your favotite fantasies, isn't it? The submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Judge: But why would that make it possible for you to fool Monsieur Gallimard? Please--get to the point.
Song: One, because when he finally met his fantasy woman, he wanted more than anything to believe that she was, in fact, a woman. And second, I am an Oriental. And being an Oriental, I could never be completely a man.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“For the myths of the East, the myths of the West, the myths of men, and the myths of women—these have so saturated our consciousness that truthful contact between nations and lovers can only be the result of heroic effort.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Don't forget: there is no homosexuality in China!”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“We must conserve our strengths for the battles we can win.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Time flies when you’re being stupid.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“And you wonder, what's wrong with me? Will anyone beautiful want me?”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“This is the ultimate cruelty, isn't it? That I can talk and talk and to anyone listening, it's only air--too rich a diet to be swallowed by a mundane world.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Death with honor is better than life... life with dishonor.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“But is it possible for a woman to be too uninhibited, too willing, so as to seem almost too... masculine?”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Happiness is so rare that our mind can turn somersaults to protect it.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

“Well, there's no guarantee of failure in life like happiness in high school.”
― David Henry Hwang, quote from M. Butterfly

About the author

Popular quotes

“Justice, humanity, or political wisdom, are qualities they are too little acquainted with in themselves, to appreciate them in others. Valor will acquire their esteem, and liberality will purchase their suffrage; but the first of these merits is often lodged in the most savage breasts; the latter can only exert itself at the expense of the public; and both may be turned against the possessor of the throne, by the ambition of a daring rival.”
― Edward Gibbon, quote from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“Bran,” I sob. “You have to go.” He just smiles. “Bran! You must!” Again the smile. He won't leave. He'll be my faithful friend forever. He'd rather die by my side than skip free without me. I return the smile. “Very well,” I sigh and reach out a hand. Bran takes it, expecting only my touch. But what he gets on top of that is the last of my magic. A swift, improvised spell. I reach into his mind and send an image into his thoughts, of the hole, him dashing out of it, racing through the cave and not coming back. And then, with all the magical force I can muster, I yell at him— “Run fast!”
― Darren Shan, quote from Bec

“Soul,” said Jack, turning toward it again, “you’ve been listening. Do you have any suggestions?” “I have only one desire.” “What is that?” “To be united with you. To go through life with you, comforting and cautioning, and—” “Wait a moment,” said Jack, raising his hand. “What does it require for you to be united with me?” “Your consent.” Jack smiled. He lit a cigarette, his hands trembling slightly. “What if I were to withhold my consent?” he asked. “Then I would become a wanderer. I would follow you at a distance, unable to comfort you and caution you, unable—” “Great,” said Jack. “I withhold my consent. Get out of here.” “Are you joking? That’s a hell of a way to treat a soul. Here I am, waiting to comfort and caution you, and you kick me out. What will people say? ‘There goes Jack’s soul,’ they’ll say, ‘poor thing.”
― Roger Zelazny, quote from Jack of Shadows

“She knew now that the trick to being brave was not thinking of the worst thing that could happen. It was a weird thing — if you acted brave, you could almost feel brave.”
― Jude Watson, quote from Beyond the Grave

“You don’t fuck Knight. No way. Knight fucks you.”
― Kristen Ashley, quote from Knight

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.