Jane Yang > Quotes

“But we lived in a hierarchy that favored men. Women, be it peasant or lady, first wife or mentor wives, were pitches against each other, fighting among themselves for scraps of power and security.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“We cannot let them win ... They own our bodies but they will never have our souls. Those are ours, always.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“A daughter’s sin is a mother’s liability, just as a mother’s sin is a daughter’s burden.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“do not dwell on things that are out of reach. Doing so makes reality unbearable.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Liberty was out of reach”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Lost opportunity is like spilled water. You won’t get it back.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“I’ve seen pictures of the skeletal man on the cross”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Hierarchy and distinction between our statuses gave meaning and order to our lives”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Yet experience had taught me that promises from the genteel class were not to be relied upon if my safety clashed with their self-interest.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“A daughter’s sin is a mother’s liability”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“I had not, until now, understood that in this world only men had the freedom to act, to roam, to live. This understanding plunged me into an abysmal pit, far beyond despair.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“But she was my superior in character. I’d been given every advantage, but at the first sign of adversity, I’d given up, while Little Flower had fought against ill fortune, hardships, injury, heartaches, crushed dreams and impossible odds.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Most women”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Life as a muizai was full of hunger, suffering and humiliation, and I’d endured it all.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Life as a daughter-in-law is bitter in ten thousand ways; this is your fate. No matter what time you rise from bed”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“Life is easier for those who can swallow bitterness and accept their lot.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“You—” I pointed at her “—are lowborn. I’m a lady. These facts are as solid as the ground we stand on.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes

“had not, until now, understood that in this world only men had the freedom to act, to roam, to live. This understanding plunged me into an abysmal pit, far beyond despair.”
― Jane Yang, The Lotus Shoes