Quotes from The Kitchen God's Wife

“Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently?”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“That is the saddest part when you lose someone you love - that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the same person I lost? Maybe you lost more maybe less, then thousand different things that come from your memory or imagination - and you do not know which is which, which was true, which is false.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“And now I have to stop. Because every time I remember this, I have to cry a little by myself. I don't know why something that made me so happy then feels so sad now. Maybe that is the way it is with the best memories.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“Her education only made her unhappy thinking about it - that no matter how much she changed her life, she could not change the world that surrounded her.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“You see what power is – holding someone else’s fear
in your hand and showing it to them”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“We are living in a world where everything is false. The society is like bright paint applied on top of rotten wood.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“I take a few quick sips. "This is really good." And I mean it. I have never tasted tea like this. It is smooth, pungent, and instantly addicting.

"This is from Grand Auntie," my mother explains. "She told me 'If I buy the cheap tea, then I am saying that my whole life has not been worth something better.' A few years ago she bought it for herself. One hundred dollars a pound."

"You're kidding." I take another sip. It tastes even better.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“When I returned home that day, I saw my life as if I already knew the happy ending of a story. I looked around the house and thought, soon I will no longer have to see these walls and all the unhappiness they keep inside.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“When Jesus was born, he was already the son of God. I was the daughter of someone who ran away, a big disgrace. And when Jesus suffered, everyone worshipped him. Nobody worshipped me for living with Wen Fu. I was like that wife of Kitchen God. Nobody worshipped me either. He got all the excuses. He got all the credit. She was forgotten.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“In this matter, you should not concern yourself for my sake.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“If you asked me how I felt when they told me I would marry Wen Fu, I can say only this: It was like being told I had won a big prize. And it was also like being told my head was going to be chopped off. Something between those two feelings.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“If someone offers to take your burden, you need to know he is serious, not just being polite and kind. Polite and kind do not last.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“All night long I worried, not about myself but about Jimmy. I imagined him looking for me, running through the park, looking in the movie theatres. He was a good man, considerate and kind, but he was not strong. He had never been through any kind of bad hardship before. So I worried.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“My sister Kwan believes she has yin eyes. ”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently? How can you think everyone can be a hero, choosing death, when it is part of our nature to let go of brave thoughts at the last moment and cling to hope and life?”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“This is the kind of China you Americans always see in the movies - the poor countryside, people wearing big hats to protect themselves from the sun. No, I never wore a hat like that! I was from Shanghai. That's like thinking someone from San Francisco wears a cowboy hat and rides a horse. Ridiculous!”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“How can I argue with someone who makes no sense?”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“That is the saddest part when you lose someone you love—that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the same person I lost? Maybe you lost more, maybe less, ten thousand different things that come from your memory or imagination—and you do not know which is which, which was true, which is false.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“May the dog-mother rut with a dead devil!”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

“If you don’t take a chance, someone else will give you his luck. And if you get bad luck, then you need to take another chance to turn things from bad to good.”
― Amy Tan, quote from The Kitchen God's Wife

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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.