And listening to all the things they would do if they had these things, Wang Lung heard only of how much they would eat and sleep, and of what dainti… - Pearl S. Buck

To repay evil with kindness is the proof of a good man; a superior man blames himself, a common man blames others.

The days of my youth are past and to a woman full grown a kiss means everything — or nothing.

There is something to be said for losing one’s possessions, after nothing can be done about it. I had loved my Nanking home and the little treasures it had contained, the lovely garden I had made, my life with friends and students. Well, that was over. I had nothing at all now except the old clothes I stood in. I should have felt sad, and I was quite shocked to realize that I did not feel sad at all. On the contrary, I had a lively sense of adventure merely at being alive and free, even of possessions. No one expected anything of me. I had no obligations, no duties, no tasks. I was nothing but a refugee, someone totally different from the busy young woman I had been. I did not even care that the manuscript of my novel was lost. Since everything else was gone, why not that?