"I am a pisces, a fish out of water, searching for a way back home."

“I think that one morning, the Papess woke in her tower, and her blankets were so warm, and the sun was so golden, she could not bear it. I think she woke, and dressed, and washed her face in cold water, and rubbed her shaven head. I think she walked among her sisters, and for the first time saw that they were so beautiful, and she loved them. I think she woke up one morning of all her mornings, and found that her heart was as white as a silkworm, and the sun was clear as glass on her brow, and she believed then that she could live, and hold peace in her hand like a pearl.”

“Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.”

“The key is to get it all down on paper before the coffee stops telling you you're talented.”

“There was a time when I first started that there was such a thing called 'a woman's film' and there were certain scripts that women would make. But I think that's changed a lot now. I think that if a woman director walks into a room with a script, it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is, or the genre is, so long as the financers feel that the woman has the skills to make the film.”

“The possibilities of percussion sounds, I believe, have never been fully realized”

“Two voices are there; one is of the sea, One of the mountains: each a mighty Voice.”

“It seems that writing chose me. I feel that because I know history, and I know the history of so many cultures; I have lived a large life.”

Source : "Maxine Hong Kingston embarks on new life chapter" by Julian Guthrie, www.sfgate.com. January 23, 2011.

“I'm a kid who grew up in an all African-American neighborhood and got into schools and aspired to just be me, and didn't worry about labels or anything. Just wanted to be a success at what I did.”

Source : "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.