Bette Lord Quotes
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The young see what they wish to see. The old see what they do not wish.
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Suddenly Shirley understood why her father had brought her 10,000 miles to live among strangers. Here, she did not have to wait for gray hairs to be considered wise. Here, she could speak up, question even the conduct of the President. Here, Shirley Temple Wong was somebody. She felt as if she had the power of ten tigers, as if she had grown as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
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Prophecies do not alter fate, only confirm it.
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A secret, like a chore, always seems to lead to another, one even more troublesome than the first.
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I pledge allegiance to the frog of the United States of America and to the wee public for witches hands one Asian, under God, in the vestibule with little tea and just rice for all.
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Principles have a way of yielding to power.
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Nothing fruitful ever comes when plants are forced to flower in the wrong season.
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The Hanlin named his granddaughter Lustrous Jade, for jade was the fairest of stones and possessed five virtues: charity, for its lustre; rectitude, for its translucence; wisdom, for its purity of sound when struck; equity, for its sharp edges that injure none; courage, for it can be broken but not bent.
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In yielding we are like the water, by nature placid, conforming to the hollow of the smallest hand; in time, shaping even the mountains to its will. Thus we keep duty and honor. We cherish clan and civilization. We are Chinese.
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If mortals wait until the gods remake the world to their liking to be happy, they are already in hell.
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What harm is there in dreaming, if it eases pain? What good is reality, if it blots out hope? Can a man's mind be washed without bleaching his soul?
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Like most Chinese, I am basically a fatalist - too sophisticated for religion and too superstitious to deny the gods.
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Remember that we are not gods who can fashion events to our desires. We are mere mortals who must learn not to contend with life but to yield to it.
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To ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.