The Hundred Secret Senses - Amy Tan Quotes

That was the year both our heavens burned.

Later we all realized our heavens were not the same.

Too much happiness always overflows into tears of sorrow.

"You can never forget a thing. Well, let me tell you, your recollection of every last detail has nothing to do with memory. It's called holding a goddamn grudge."

I taught her what is worth listening to in this world: wind, thunder, horses galloping in the dust, pebbles falling in water. I taught her what is frightening to hear: fast footsteps at night, soft cloth slowly ripping, dogs barking, the silence of crickets.

And then I felt myself becoming smaller yet denser, about to be crushed by the weight of my own heart, as if the laws of gravity and balance had changed and I was now violating them. I stared once again at those sharp little stars, twinkling like fireflies. Only now they were splotched and melting, and the night heaven was tilting and whirling, too immense to hold itself up any longer.

Kwan said that people in the World of Yin were very bad about making appointments, because nobody used a calendar or a clock anymore. The best method was to watch the moon. That was why so many strange things happened when the moon was at its brightest, Kwan said: "Like porch light, telling your guests, welcome-welcome, come inside."

And that's when I feel the grief for what we've lost over the years: the excitement and wonder of being in the world at the same time and in the same place.

Yet I'm also afraid that the core of my being, stripped of its mail-order trappings, is no different from that of the tenth person who stands on the road wishing for someone to stop and single her out.

You can't stop people from wishing. They can't help trying. As long as they can see sky, they'll always want to go as high as they can.

"Too many years, too many years," she says, as if chanting.

"Of course I knew. In my heart, I knew all the time."

Are we born with blank hearts, waiting to be imprinted with any imitation of love?

So you see? He was already being bossy, making decisions for me. That's how I knew we were married. That's how he told me I do.

"Let him despise me, otherwise he won't leave. Make sure he is safe. Promise me this."

"Only now I no longer feel it is a vacuum for hopes or a backdrop for fears. I see what is so simple, so obvious. It holds up the stars, the planets, the moons, all of life, for eternity. I can always find it, it will always find me. It is continuous, light within dark, dark within light. It promises nothing but to be constant and mysterious, frightening and miraculous. And if only I can remember to look at the sky and wonder about this, I can use this as my compass. I can find my way through chaos no matter what happens. I can hope with all my soul, and the sky will always be there, to pull me up..."

I lift my baby into my arms. And we dance, joy spilling from sorrow.