Hao Jingfang > Quotes

“We're only travelers, singing songs whose meanings are obscure, wandering through the dark sky. That is all.”
― Hao Jingfang, Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

“The real key isn't about whether what I say is true, but whether you believe it. From start to end, the direction of narrative is not guided by the tongue, but by the ear.”
― Hao Jingfang, Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

“Ren.” The others pondered this exchange. “Ren” is at the core of Confucianism, naming a concept that has no exact translation into other human languages. It’s a type of love that doesn’t fall within the typology of philia, eros, storge, and agape, a love that emphasizes mutual respect, exchange, and the abiding humaneness that drives true altruism. In pronunciation, it is a homonym for the word for “human.” As a hanzi, it is written as a compound formed from the hanzi for “person” and “two.” A less elegant but more digestible way to express the ideas within “ren” might be: you and I, being human together.”
― Hao Jingfang, Jumpnauts

“If you ask them directly, they'll reply, very puzzled, "Yes, what you say sounds like Truth. But the world is full of Truths. So what if you have a Truth?”
― Hao Jingfang, Invisible Planets

“I reject aspects of Confucianism that emphasize hierarchy in relations, obedience to authority, and all the rites and restrictive rules of propriety,” Qi Fei said. “But there are also aspects of Confucianism that deserve consideration. For example, the belief that one should do what is right even if they know failure is certain, or the notion that the virtuous should be especially scrupulous when there’s no one around to observe their actions. These ideas are very much worth preserving.”
― Hao Jingfang, Jumpnauts

“She was eleven at the time when Ronen said these things to her, and they fell into her heart like seeds...His life was a bright flash that had illuminated a child's heart.”
― Hao Jingfang, Vagabonds

“Tell me about the fascinating planets you've seen. But I don't want to hear anything cruel or disgusting.”
― Hao Jingfang, Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

“Nimble, speedy warplanes then rushed in, propelled across the gulf of space by the rage of betrayal, at once wild and dispassionate, dropped their bombs so that bloody flowers bloomed silently in the dust.”
― Hao Jingfang, Vagabonds

“It was always the habit of people who had never gone anywhere to invent outrageous stories about faraway places, to gain the self-satisfaction of an imaginary civilized person through manufactured fantasies of barbarism.”
― Hao Jingfang, Vagabonds

“Chang Tian chuckled. “When I was in the kitchen, I heard the three of you debate ‘good relationships.’ My goodness, you’re all theory with no practical knowledge at all. What do you know about healthy relationships?” “All right, expert, why don’t you enlighten us?” Jiang Liu asked. “A good relationship must first allow each party to face their own faults and defects, and in that clarity, they can strive to heal and become complete. Moreover, both parties must ultimately accept the other as they are—in that process the two will repeatedly approach, resist, re-approach, re-resist; they must learn to open up and reveal their core selves and learn that it’s okay to be vulnerable without being hurt, being abandoned, or hurting and abandoning. And after acceptance, there comes the challenge of long-term trust—”
― Hao Jingfang, Jumpnauts

“Such a life of uncertainty entranced her. It was such a contrast to the life in the platonic garden of idealized creation that she had grown up in. The two collided like air masses in her heart, and a tempestuous storm was the result.”
― Hao Jingfang, Vagabonds