Empress Orchid Quotes

“The sun doesn't just hang on one family's tree”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“I was happy not to be in his place. He could command my death, but not his. But then, what kind of power was his? He was a prisoner of himself.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Like a singing river
You break out to flow freely
I am the mountain behind
Happily I watch you
Memory of us
Full and sweet”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Prezirem ljude koji se svijaju kako vjetar puše.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“To give to is to accept your fate.
To give to is to create peace.
To give to is to gain the upper hand, and
To give to is to have it all.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Mother once told me that one had to lower one's head when passing under low eaves in order to avoid injury.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Misery is the work of the mind," Nuharoo said as she took a sip of her tea. "Master it and you will feel nothing but happiness. The beauty of my nails has not been damaged, because they stayed inside the protectors.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“My life so far was a piece of embroidery with every stitch sewn by my own hands.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Zabranjeni grad je pjesma u svojem najčistijem obliku. On je moj duhovni vrt gdje mogu leći među cvijeće i otpočinuti.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Vjetar pokazuje svoje tijelo kroz drhtavo lišće.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“She was known to have a scorpion mouth but a tofu heart.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“I was now the most powerful woman in China, yet my spirit was stuck with that empty coffin with my name and title carved in cold stone.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“But my spring continued to have no butterflies.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Cheerfulness belonged to youth and one naturally lost it.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Buddhists believed that the lotus leaf was the seat of Kuan Ying, the goddess of mercy, who was orginally a man but took the form of a woman. Kuan Ying was a favourite of mine, so I was inclined to like Li Lien-ying from the start.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“In my old age, whenever I tired of working or thought of quitting, I would go and visit the ruins of Yuan Ming Yuan. The moment I stepped among the broken stones, I could hear the barbarians cheering. The image would choke me as if the smoke still clung in the air.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“I hope that one day Tung Chih will fall in love with a sword this beautiful.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“His words carried great urgency, as if his house would catch fire if he didn't speak fast enough.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“He could order my death, but he couldn't order himself one.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“Why betray your courage, Orchid? Since your father's death there hadn't been a path until you walked on the weeds!”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“I will be glad to drink the poison you hand me," An-te-hai said softly.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“She used to be the favourite concubine of Emperor Tao Kuang, but now she lived in a jar.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“The anger they harbored was so uncontrollable that only death could contain it.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid

“In order to direct, I learned to offer an image that I was being directed.”
― Anchee Min, Empress Orchid