The Best Girls Quotes

“I try not to cry, because it doesn’t seem to make any difference. And whenever I do, I shut my eyes to make it stop.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“I realized then that I should not study too hard. Because people only dislike you for it. I hoped that Jaesung would study, though, because I felt sure that he would be more popular and his success wouldn’t make anyone mad at him.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“They said that it was obvious that I studied too hard and I wouldn’t get married. Some said that I was disrespectful to my teachers because I had dressed so poorly on commencement day. One mother told a man that I probably cheated. She said that I looked mulish, not very clever. The man said, “Some kids just know how to study but have no common sense.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“And without tutoring, without a college education, he would be unable to save us.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“Grandfather had explained that tutoring had been made illegal a while back so poor children could have the same chance as rich ones.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“Trust had prompted my father to sign the papers. Honor made him turn everything over to the bank.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“She’s far more interesting than my teachers at school because she makes her lessons scary so that we won’t forget them.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“Aunt told us that we were good girls, the best girls, because we never complained. Then Grandmother said that we must take good care of Jaesung, because a boy would protect and honor his family. This was something we had to remember. One day our brother would save our parents from dying on a lonely mountain.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“She had the grin that babies have—silly, kind of foolish. You don’t really know what they are smiling about; still, you hope they’re smiling because of you.”
― Min Jin Lee, The Best Girls

“In the morning, when my grandmother is in the kitchen, I will place enough of this powder into my sisters’ and my porridge bowls. Mama and Dad will be sad, but it will be all right.”
― Lee Min-jin, The Best Girls