I saw what I had been fighting for: it was for me, a scared child... - Amy Tan

Don't think too much. That makes you believe you have more choices than you do. Then you mind becomes confused.

They know where happiness lies, not in a cave or a country, but in love and the freedom to give and take what has been there all along.

Other Asian-American writers just shudder when they are compared to me; it really denigrates the uniqueness of their own work. I find it happening less here partly because people are more aware now of the flaws of political correctness — that literature has to do something to educate people. I don't see myself, for example, writing about cultural dichotomies, but about human connections. All of us go through angst and identity crises. And even when you write in a specific context, you still tap into that subtext of emotions that we all feel about love and hope, and mothers and obligations and responsibilities.