Wang Anyi > Quotes

“But do not look down on even the most minute of things; for with the coming of daybreak, even the tiniest particles of dust in this world sing and dance in the sunlight.”
― Anyi Wang, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Being extra nice to someone can be a form of manipulation--kindness is an exercise of power in its own right.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“She had naturally high aspirations, but having come to terms with the limitations imposed by her environment, she developed a habit of splashing cold water on her hopes.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Wherever fate lands you, you look for something interesting and enjoy it as best as you can. Maybe that's what makes life interesting.”
― Wang Anyi, Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America

“Like most Shanghai residents who had lived through such sweeping historical changes, they regarded the Communist Party as unapproachable, and saw themselves as people left over from a previous era. Moreover, living in the heart of society, caught up in the swirl of everyday life, they barely had a chance to develop a coherent opinion of themselves, let alone grand concepts like "the nation" or "political power." They are not to be faulted for their narrow frame of reference, because a large city is like a huge machine that turns according to the principles dictated by its own structure; only its tiniest components have a human texture, and it is these tiny components that people hold on to, otherwise they would fall into the vacuum of abstraction.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Being around Wang Qiyao gave him a certain peace of mind, and he didn't need to hustle to get that feeling, which was reassuring for him. It was as if he had quietly discovered that things go in cycles and that underneath all the apparent change, everything remains the same.”
― Wang Anyi

“How quiet indeed that moment was. One could even hear the clapper of a street peddler selling porridge flavored with osmanthus blossoms -- a shadow of the everyday world creeping into this peculiar place.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“The chimes of the trolley clanking by were pacifying music to his ears, and the sunlight shining through the parasol trees seemed as if it too was playing a silvery tune”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“They sat in silence, each smiling wryly inside, wordlessly imploring the other to give way. Yet who could afford to give way? With only one life to live, neither was willing to roll over for the other.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Each was acting out of self-interest—but a heart driven by self-interest is still a heart and, having a heart, one must feel the joys and sorrows of life.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“One should not look down on this eagerness to be trendy—it belongs to the heart that is common to all. Day after day, night after night, it is this desire that holds up and sustain this city’s prosperity. This common heart, being pure and clear, is best able to take stock of the changing times. Like the evergreen, it is eternal.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“The first time he saw her she was wearing a blue khaki uniform and a pair of shabby pigskin shoes - like those worn by high school students - under a pair of baggy pants. He would have sworn that she had come from the police department to check their residence permits. He was even more surprised when she opened her mouth - half the words that tumbled out were political phrases lifted straight from the newspaper. He had heard Wang Qiyao mention Jiang Lili and knew about her family background, but the woman before him did not conform to the description at all: he couldn't figure out which side of her was real and which was merely a show.”
― Wang Anyi

“Everything at Wu Bridge -- the roads, the bridges, the houses, the pickled vegetables in the pantries, the jars of wine buried in the ground -- has been accumulated day by day, generation by generation.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“There was Wang Qiyao in her autumn coat, her hair blown about by the wind as she tightly clutched her lambskin purse. Her eyes were fixed ahead, as if she was searching for something… this chance encounter filled him with despair. It was a scene emblematic of a chaotic world, one snapshot in a life that was flying past.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“The base of the wall is still there, entrenched. Almost an inch high, it sticks up from the ground in stubborn silence.”
― Wang Anyi, Lapse of Time

“In the early evening, when the lights came on, you could see in all the windows the watchful eyes of frightened people looking out for signs of trouble. But whenever something bad did happen, no one ever saw it coming.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“With Wang Qiyao’s flowery apron around his waist and a pair of protective sleeves over his shirt, he brought the meal to Wang Qiyao’s bedside, his hair mussed up, his forehead oily and perspiring, his eyes aglow with excitement. Tears rolled down her cheeks and into her bowl as she ate. Kang Mingxun watched helplessly on one side, looking very much like a waiter on duty. Soon he too became teary. They could no longer put it off: a decision had to be made.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“After all, life flows like water through one’s fingers, and eternity is but an illusion. Once we have come to terms with that, nothing else really matters.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“The flesh and blood breaking off from a woman’s
body remain linked to her forever.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“There was a note on the table: Together in this life—who needs a next life?”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Loneliness added to loneliness.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“By nature domineering, she had furthermore been brought up with a strong sense of entitlement. Circumstances had forced her to be tolerant for a while, but it was not a situation she could live with in the long run.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“A man's destination must be happiness, not misery.”
― Wang Anyi, Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan and Latin America

“Here is a fantasy land purchased at the price of loneliness and relinquished youth.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“A twenty-six-year-old heart has already begun to grow a shell; the shell may have some cracks and fissures, but by the age of thirty-six any remaining fissures would have been sealed.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“Only after shifting her gaze to the woman under the lamplight did she suddenly realize that the actress was pretending to be dead—but she could not tell if the woman was meant to have been murdered or to have committed suicide. The strange thing was that this scene did not terrifying or foreboding, only annoyingly familiar.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“What might have faded away naturally over time became etched in stone”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

“There used to be a wall here. Lane 499 was on one side of the wall; Lane 501 . . . was on the other.
In 1958, during the Great Leap forward, the wall was dismantled. . . .
but the base of the wall remained.”
― Wang Anyi 王安忆

“Elle a l'impression d'être debout au bord d'une falaise, de voir les nuages blancs qui flottent à ses pieds, elle sait qu'au-dessous s'étend une gorge insondable. Elle se débat vraiment, mais lui a perdu toute raison, il est comme une bête sauvage décidée à se battre jusqu'à la mort. A bout de forces, elle se défend en vain. Parce que son corps est resté si longtemps solitaire, que le désespoir a détruit son désir, qu'elle oppose une résistance sincère et énergique, parce qu'à cet instant elle n'y est pas préparée, de façon inattendue, elle est submergée par une immense sensation de jouissance telle qu'elle n'en avait jamais connu. Cette plénitude efface tout ce qu'elle avait vécu auparavant. On peut mourir sans regret quand on a connu un tel instant. Cette joie irradie jusqu'aux moindres parcelles de son corps, sa jouissance n'a jamais atteint de tels sommets. Elle a un goût d'éternité, comme une cérémonie d'adieux parfaitement réussie.
Lui aussi ressent cet instant comme exceptionnel. Il s'écarte pour s'étendre sur le dos à côté d'elle et observe le ciel étoilé. A cet instant, le chant des porteurs d'eau monte de la rivière perdue dans le brouillard comme un chœur formé de cent voix à l'unisson, puissant et pourtant maîtrisé. Étendus l'un près de l'autre, ils sont saisis par un sentiment étrange et inconnu. Un lourd pressentiment pèse sur eux.
p 158-159”
― Wang Anyi, Love in a Small Town

“Nothing marvelous had happened to Wang Qiyao, but through careful cultivation her life had also sprouted countless little sprigs that held the promise of developing into something.”
― Wang Anyi, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai