The Paper Menagerie Quotes

“Each moment and everywhere, civilizations rise and fall, much as the stars are born and die.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“If I say 'love,' I feel here." She pointed to her lips. "If I say 'ai,' I feel here." She put her hand over her heart.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“It is true that no nation, and no historian can tell a story that completely encompasses every aspect of the truth. But it is not true that just because all narratives are constructed, that they are equally far from the truth. The Earth is neither a perfect sphere nor a flat disk, but the model of the sphere is much closer to the truth. ...The fact that we can never have complete, perfect knowledge does not absolve us of the moral duty to judge and take a stand against evil.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“In an extraordinary time, he faced extraordinary choices, and maybe some would say this means we cannot judge him. But how can we really judge anyone except in the most extraordinary of circumstances? It's easy to be civilized and display a patina of orderliness in calm times, but your true character only emerges in darkness and under great pressure”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“I’ve been wandering around the streets of New York all day. I can’t keep her savage beauty out of my mind. I wish my soul was heavier, more solid, something that could weigh itself down. I wish my soul wasn’t this feather, this ugly wisp of goose down in my pocket, lifted up and buffeted about by the wind around her flame. I feel like a moth.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“Perhaps it is the dream of every parent to keep their child in that brief period between helpless dependence and separate selfhood when the parent is seen as perfect, faultless. It is a dream of control and mastery disguised as love, the dream that Lear had about Cordelia”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“She thought she had so much to say to him that she would never have time to read again.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“She told me about American men who wanted Asian wives. If I can cook, clean, and take care of my American husband, he'll give me a good life. It was the only hope I had. And that was how I got into the catalog with all those lies and met your father. It is not a very romantic story, but it is my story.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie

“In those killings a new kind of magic was born. Now, no one is allowed to talk about the 228 Massacre. The number 228 is a taboo.
"I took Teddy in after his parents were executed for trying to commemorate that day. I came here, away from the city, so that I could live in a small cottage and drink my tea in peace. The villagers respect those who have read books, and they come to me to ask my advice on picking names for their children that will bring good fortune. Even after so many men died because of a few magic words, we continue to have faith in the power of words to do good.”
― Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie