Anchee Min quotes

Anchee Min is a Chinese-American author and memoirist known for her powerful works depicting life in communist China and the immigrant experience. Her novels and autobiographical books have received international acclaim for their vivid storytelling and honesty. She continues to inspire readers worldwide with her courage and literary talent. Here are 21 of her quotes:

To be able to do art, it was a luxury to me.

Anchee Min

If one wants to get a boat ride, one must be near the river.

Anchee Min

If you can't go back to your mother's womb, you'd better learn to be a good fighter.

Anchee Min

My goal was to do anything that would lead to a job. I know that writing would not lead to a job. It's too fancy for me. My biggest goal was to be an office receptionist, answer phones. I didn't expect to go beyond that.

Anchee Min

I understood that without English I would never get far, so my dream was to become a receptionist, and so I started to learn English from watching 'Sesame Street.'

Anchee Min

When Chinese get together - what's buried stays buried. We don't even discuss our embarrassing early days struggling in Chicago.

Anchee Min

When I first came to America, you know, I would look at the newsstands and see the women on the magazine covers. I had never seen anyone smile the way these girls smile! It's like they have nothing to worry about!

Anchee Min

lack of will power leads to more failure than lack of intelligence or ability.

Anchee Min

We were meant to survive because of our minds' ability to reason, our ability to live with frustration in order to maintain our virtue. We wore smiling masks while dying inside.

Anchee Min

My mind swirled with memories of the life I had led. The constant struggle to keep up appearances, the pretenses, the smiles that had been met with tears. The long sleepless nights, the loneliness that cloaked my spirit and turned me into a true ghost.

Anchee Min

my mother was taught the ch'an concept of happiness, which was to find satisfaction in small things. i was taught to appreciate the fresh air in the morning, the colour of leaves turning red in autumn and the water's smoothness when i soaked my hands in the basin.

Anchee Min

The sun doesn't just hang on one family's tree.

Anchee Min

I was happy not to be in his place. He could command my death, but not his. But then, what kind of power was his? He was a prisoner of himself.

Anchee Min

No matter how American I become, I'm considered part of the Chinese community by my own family.

Anchee Min

There have been 50 or 60 books written about Empress Orchid, but none of them bothered to really examine the period in China when she lived. I was taught that she was evil; it's in all the textbooks.

Anchee Min

Of course I have the license to make up things, but I think a lot of what's written about China is misleading, and most Americans don't know much about China, in-depth, even though China is such a crucial business partner, rival, whatever.

Anchee Min

I cultivate my Chinese garden in the middle of an American town...I love China with all my heart and soul, although I feel fortunate to have escaped it.

Anchee Min

There are a lot of things that immigrants, especially Chinese-Americans, want to share with their children, but there are a lot of things they don't want to share.

Anchee Min