I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes. (p29) - Maxine Hong Kingston

Mental work was harder than physical work, although it was not exactly the mind that teaching strained. (p41)

I feel so bad sometimes thinking of this great oral tradition, and along comes somebody like me who writes it down. People go to the library and pull out a book and say, "Here's the authentic story." It's not! That was only the odd person who came along, like Homer, and wrote it down. It's the same thing with the Chinese. Most of the tradition was oral and then someone came along and wrote it down.

I feel that it's part of my work as an artist, a creator, a human being, is to integrate and to be more inclusive and to define American as large and not as exclusive. (2007)