Gail Tsukiyama Quotes

“Sometimes you can't let go of the past without facing it again.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There's no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Even a snail will eventually reach its destination.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Everything seems simpler from a distance.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

Beauty exists where you least expect to find it.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“It is not an act of bravery to try to save your own village. It is an instinct to protect what you possess. Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“The eyes mirror the heart of a person. An entire life can be seen through them. Love, sorrow, deceit, pain. If you look closely, it's all there.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

But how will I know it's my destiny?'
'Like love it will possess you ... You can't help but know.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“In the end, it doesn't matter what words are said or unsaid ... Life's mistakes are made whether you can see them or not. What counts is how we learn to live with them.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“To read and write will help you understand life ... to sew and mend will help you survive it.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Do you think a champion is made out of thin air? It's through the hardships you endure that you'll gain real strength.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Just remember, Every day of your lives, you must always be sure what you're fighting for.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

We live a short enough time on this earth. A man should do what he loves.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Don't ever think that just because you do things differently, you're wrong.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

We can't run away from what defines our fates. Who we are and what we believe in grow from the roots of our past, no matter how much we might try to deny it.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Life is not just from within, it extends all around you, whether you wish it to or not.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Nothing ever stands still, and neither should you.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“What wars really destroyed were families.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“To be noble, ... was to account for the life you lived, to always account for your mistakes, and to have dignity and worth.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“To have strength without knowing how to use it means nothing.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Don't you think every face tells its own story? Like a book? More like a poem. If you study it long enough, you'll soon find its meaning.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“We're stepping into a new world, and an entire way of thinking must be changed. But the old ideas can't be easily discarded. Like a pendulum, new ways must swing to the other side before returning.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Success is not handed to you. You must work hard for it and you must never dishonor what you've achieved.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

When you're young, you can excuse many things, hoping they will strengthen with time.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Matsu gathered up what little was left of the food and wrapped it back up in the furoshiki. 'I followed you and the others down to the beach yesterday morning. I wondered if you might try to find your way to peace as she did.'
'I couldn't,' I began to cry, turning away in shame. Then Matsu leaned over close to my ear. He smelled of sweat and the earth as he whispered, 'It takes greater courage to live.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“When I'm in the midst of finishing a book, I can be working around the clock.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“I also find doing the mundane, everyday things in life has a calming, creative influence on me. Some of my best ideas come when I'm vacuuming or waiting in lines.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“During the day, if I don't have any other commitments, I'm usually at my desk writing, revising, or researching anywhere from four to six hours.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Near the gardens, Pei stopped and caught her breath. She liked sweet-voiced Song Lee and hoped for the best in dealing with the other sisters, but Pei rememered all too well the different personalities that had affected her life, first at the girls' house, then at the silk factory and sisters' house. Dealing with so many people was often like playing a game of chess. There were so many pieces, all moving in different directions. It was always wise to guard all sides against capture.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

The garden is a world filled with secrets. Slowly, I see more each day. The black pines twist and turn to form graceful shapes, while the moss is a carpet of green that invites you to sit by the pond. Even the stone lanterns, which dimly light the way at night, allow you to see only so much.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Sometimes the house is so quiet I feel like the only noise that fills my mind is what I've created myself. Remembered conversations come back to me as if my friends and family were right here in the room.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Just don't ever think you deserve to be beaten.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“When the water boiled, Michiko poured it into the pot of green leaves and we both waited in the thick silence. I felt strangely calmed by this simple ritual I had seen my mother do many hundred times before. It was all that seemed to make sense in this place and I held on to it as if I were drowning.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Sometimes I felt like I would go insane not having the answers to such simple questions. Of course, it was always hardest during the night, then the darkness stole away any signs of hope.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Every so often I was overwhelmed by a phantom pain that cut through me like a knife. I was certain that if I looked down I would find blood all over, like the knife I once held in my hands, but it was all in my mind.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

Please, Matsu-san,' I told him, not long after the house was completed. 'I don't wish to have any flowers.'
Never once did he question me. I needed my life to be simple without any beauty to remind me of all I had lost. And though I had not told him that, Matsu must have seen it in my eyes. 'Don't worry, Sachi,' he said, 'there will be no flowers.

— Gail Tsukiyama

“It takes the same amount of energy to worry about the worst thing that can happen as it does to hope for the best. It's up to you to choose.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“Nothing ever stands still," she told them. "And neither should you.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

The things you remember about a person when they're gone are funny. No two people will feel the same way, though usually it has to do with scent, or expression, the sound of a voice, an unusual gesture. For me, I can still see the colors of Keiko; the black of her hair against creamy pale skin, her dark blue kimono with white circles, the deep orange persimmons falling from the brown basket she carried. The ache in my heart grows larger every time I think of these colors, and how as each day passes they continue to fade from my eyes.

— Gail Tsukiyama

He seemed to have a story no one had bothered to discover

— Gail Tsukiyama

“It takes greater courage to live.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“It was like a bad dream with only one saving grace: my family thought I was dead. I suddenly felt lighter, relieved of the burden that had been placed on me as a living person. Yet, there was still someone who knew I existed, which made me feel like a real person again, not a ghost roaming the earth.”

— Gail Tsukiyama

“It's harder than I imagined, to be alone. I suppose I might get used to it, like an empty canvas
you slowly begin to fill.”

— Gail Tsukiyama