Mai Nguyễn > Nguyễn's Quotes

“Realize that blood that is shed can't make blood flow again in other people's veins.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

“Being a mother is never easy... It’s about failing, learning, and then failing again.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“As long as I have my voice, I am still alive.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“Whenever humans failed us, it was nature who could help save us.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“Shadows of villages that bordered the horizon looked like women whose backs were bent with the burdens of life. My mother had had to bear hers, and it was now my turn.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“I realize that blood that is shed can't make blood flow again in other people's veins.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

“Human lives were short and fragile. Time and illnesses consumed us, like flames burning away these pieces of wood. But it didn’t matter how long or short we lived. It mattered more how much light we were able to shed on those we loved and how many people we touched with our compassion.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“What my uncle said made me think. I had resented America, too. But by reading their books, I saw the other side of them--their humanity. Somehow I was sure that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing

“Burning books was an incomprehensible act, and most people who didn't even read would fight for the right to open any book they chose. Those in power fear free minds, and nothing unlocked thinking like literature.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Dust Child

“With the fire of war burning, it needed more men as firewood.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Dust Child

“She had tried to live an honest life, but the war had given her no choice. It had forced her to make up a version of herself which was acceptable to others. In a way, making up stories had been the basis of her survival and her success.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Dust Child