"The keys to patience are acceptance and faith. Accept things as they are, and look realistically at the world around you. Have faith in yourself and in the direction you have chosen."

“I will fight for my children on any level so they can reach their potential as human beings and in their public duties.”

“A good piece of fiction, in my view, does not offer solutions. Good stories deal with our moral struggles, our uncertainties, our dreams, our blunders, our contradictions, our endless quest for understanding. Good stories do not resolve the mysteries of the human spirit but rather describe and expand up on those mysteries.”

“We are not by nature cruel.”

“And if anyone asks, you're Chinese. The boy had nodded. "Chinese," he whispered. "I'm Chinese." "And I," said the girl, "am the Queen of Spain." "In your dreams," said the boy. "In my dreams," said the girl, "I'm the King.”

Source : FaceBook post by Julie Otsuka from Dec 18, 2016

“The spirits run riot in youth.”

“I am a slow reader. I always loved words, which is a strange thing given that I couldn't actually read them”

“What we enjoy, not what we possess, is ours, and in labouring for the possession of many things, we lose the power to enjoy the best.”

Source : John Lancaster Spalding (1901). “Aphorisms and Reflections: Conduct, Culture and Religion”

“Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book's artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content to follow the action with tenderness and interest, all passion spent.  Rather than surrender to the story or the characters - as a good first reader ought - we can now look at how the book works, and instead of swooning over it like a besotted lover begin to appreciate its intricacy and craftmanship.  Surprisingly, such dissection doesn't murder the experience.  Just the opposite: Only then does a work of art fully live.”