The Island of Sea Women Quotes

“They did this to me. They did that to me. A woman who thinks that way will never overcome her anger. You are not being punished for your anger. You're being punished by your anger.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“How do we fall in love? ... How different it is with friendship. No one picks a friend for us. We come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son. We tie ourselves together through moment. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand your heart in a way no one else ever will.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“To understand everything is to forgive.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“The sea is better than a mother. You can love your mother, and she still might leave you. You can love or hate the sea, but it will always be there. Forever. The sea has been the center of her life. It has nurtured her and stolen from her, but it has never left.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Fall down eight times, stand up nine. For me, this saying is less about the dead paving the way for future generations than it is for the women of Jeju. We suffer and suffer and suffer, but we also keep getting up. We keep living. You would not be here if you weren't brave. Now you need to be braver still.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Her house is the nest where she hides the joy, laughter, sorrows, and regrets of her life.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“I’ve had to think about the dark shadow side of friendship. This is the person who knows and loves you best, which means she knows all the ways to hurt and betray you.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Parents exist in children,” Grandmother said to bolster my confidence. “Your mother will always exist in you. She will give you strength wherever you go.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“You are not being punished for your anger. You’re being punished by your anger.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Who can name a death that was not tragic?” the speaker asks. “Is there a way for us to find meaning in the losses we've suffered? Who can say that one soul has a heavier grievance than another? We were all victims. We need to forgive each other.”

Remember? Yes. Forgive? No.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand your heart in a way no one else will.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Confucius didn’t care much for women: When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“For a tree that has many branches, even a small breeze will shake some loose.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“If you try to live, you can live on well.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Women live quietly," I said. "However angry or broken a woman might get, she does not think about beating someone, does she?”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“How can I help change things if I sit by and do nothing?”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“The saying You aren’t aware your clothes are getting wet in the rain suggests a gradual change and can be interpreted in two ways, one positive, the other negative. A positive story might involve friendship, which grows over time. First you are acquaintances, then friends, then a closer relationship develops, until you realize that you love each other. A darker example might be about a criminal. A person steals a small thing, then a larger thing, until finally he’s become a thief. The point is, you’re not aware just how wet you’re getting when the drizzle starts.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Parents exist in children,' Grandmother said to bolster my confidence. 'Your mother will always exist in you. She will give you strength wherever you go.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“They did this to me. They did that to me. A woman who thinks that way will never overcome her anger. You are not being punished for your anger. You’re being punished by your anger.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back,” she warned the gathering. “In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“You should be more careful out there,” the doctor says. “You have a dangerous job. I mean, do you see men doing it?”

“Of course not!” Young-sook exclaims. “The world knows that the cold water will cause their penises to shrivel and die.”

The doctor shakes her head and laughs.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“You have been a good mother to your children, but now you must be an even better and stronger mother. Children are hope and joy. On land, you will be a mother. In the sea, you can be a grieving widow. Your tears will be added to the oceans of salty tears that wash in great waves across our planet. This I know. If you try to live, you can live on well.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“If there is happiness at age three, it will last until you reach eighty.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“The government labels the haenyeo a cultural heritage treasure—something dying out that must be preserved, if only in memory. How does it feel to be the last of the last?” If they’re academics, they’ll want to talk about Jeju’s matrifocal culture, explaining, “It’s not a matriarchy. Rather, it’s a society focused on women.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“You may not know this, but the cold-water stress that the haenyeo endure is greater than for any other human group in the world.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back,” she warned the gathering. “In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”

These traditional words were often repeated on Jeju, but we all nodded somberly as though hearing them for the first time.

“When we go to the sea, we share the work and the danger,” Mother added. “We harvest together, sort together, and sell together, because the sea itself is communal.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“You aren't aware your clothes are getting wet in the rain.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“As the eldest daughter, I had always been responsible for my younger siblings. Now I had to provide their food and clothing and be a second mother to them. My father was no help. He was a kind man, but he shuddered under the added responsibility. Too often I found him outside, alone with his sadness. No man was built to shoulder the full weight of feeding and caring for his family. That was why he had a wife and daughters.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“I was a haenyeo—independent and resilient—but I’d missed my husband.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women