Quotes by Chinese Authors

It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract.
I.M. Pei
Beauty can make a woman rich, but if she relies solely on her looks to get by, she'll always remain under a man's thumb.
Ma Jian
a generation:the black night gave me black eyesstill I use them to seek the light
Gu Cheng
Instead of sniping at her like Mrs. Mi, Mrs. Ting let my mother do all sorts of things she wanted, like reading novels: before, reading a book without a Marxist cover would bring down a rain of criticism about being a bourgeois intellectual.
Jung Chang
We ate away, reminiscing about our victories over the enemies from different streets and villages and competing with each other in casting curses. A few golden butterflies and dragonflies were fluttering around us. The afternoon air was warm and clean, and the town below us seemed like a green harbor full of white sails.
Ha Jin
Our words had to be circumspect. We could not write anything too negative about our circumstances. This was tricky, since the very form of a married woman's letter needed to include the usual complaints -- that we were pathetic, powerless, worked to the bone, homesick, and sad. We were supposed to speak directly about our feelings without appearing ungrateful, no-account, or unfilial.
Lisa See
it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
Sun Tzu
If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.
Sun Tzu
The principle of fair reduction is based on the concept of historic responsibility. Developed countries finished industrialising first. Thus, over the last 60 years, the developed countries, which represent 17 percent of the world's population, have been responsible for 70 percent of carbon emissions. The developed countries should adjust for this disparity accordingly. In contrast, developing countries, which represent 83 percent of the world's population, have contributed only 30 percent of total carbon emissions over the past 60 years. It is therefore fair to give developing countries more leeway to produce carbon emissions.
Yan Xuetong
But you can’t give them everything they want—they will always want more than they have.
Marie Lu
Healthy debating enforces critical thinking principles - looking at things from the different angles, with increased perspective and less prejudgment.
Pearl Zhu
There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
Sun Tzu
A pity it is evening, yetI do love the water of this springseeing how clear it is, how clean;rays of sunset gleam on it,lighting up its ripples, making itone with those who travelthe roads; I turn and facethe moon; sing it a song, thenlisten to the sound of the windamongst the pines.
Li Bai
The wall sawyer did not ask the little queen what she did. This was because in the little queen’s kingdom, people only volunteered their doings if they wanted to, and they never asked others their doings. It was considered impolite. Asking what one did was like asking who they were, and that was too simple a question for a very complex answer.
Meia Geddes
If you can't go back to your mother's womb, you'd better learn to be a good fighter.
Anchee Min
Partying and dancing have never been my thing, but drinking I could do with reasonable familiarity and skills. I decided to begin there.
Vann Chow
A gentleman is not a pot.
Confucius
Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
Confucius
The more laws and restrictions there are,The poorer people become....The more rules and regulations,The more thieves and robbers.
Lao Tzu
She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, easily the most breathtaking girl in the room.
Marie Lu
But if you take pleasure in morality, then you are always in deficit.
Brian Castro
Learning a new language, just like opening a new window, allows you to see the world with intimacy.
Pearl Zhu
Open the mind to be on a path to a better version of yourself.
Pearl Zhu
Minding his own business had been his motto living in a strange foreign country with a world-recognized social issue of failing morals.
Vann Chow
Revere the unity of all-that-iscarry out your daily activities with compassion;if you do not limit your compassion,you yourself will not be limited.
Lao Tzu
Time's arrow is the loss of fidelity in compression. A sketch, not a photograph. A memory is a re-creation, precious because it is both more and less than the original.
Ken Liu
The calf is capable of walking quite well now," Dazu said. "He never stumbles.""But I told you to carry him back here," the teacher said. "The first thing a soldier must learn is to obey orders."Every day, the calf grew a little heavier, and every day, Dazu had to struggle a little harder. He would collapse, exhausted, when he finally got to the ranch, and the calf would bound out of his arms, glad to be able to walk on his own and stretch out.When winter rolled around again, Médo handed him a wooden sword and asked him to strike as hard as he could at the practice dummy. Dazu looked with distaste at the crude weapon with no edge, but he swung obediently.The wooden dummy fell in half, cut clean through. He looked at the sword in his hand with wonder."It's not the sword," his teacher said. "Have you looked at yourself lately?" He brought Dazu to stand in front of a brightly polished shield.The young man could hardly recognize the reflection. His shoulders filled the frame of the mirror. His arms and thighs were twice as thick as he remembered, and his chest bulged over his narrow waist."A great warrior trusts not his weapons, but himself. When you possess true strength, you can deal a killing blow even if all you have is a blade of grass."Now you're finally ready to learn from me. But first, go thank the calf for making you strong.
Ken Liu
I am Not, but the Universe is my Self.
Shih-t'ou
A person with a mind is bound to be filled with conceptions. These conceptions prevent him from knowing things directly, so a person with a mind shall never really know.
Liezi
[Jesus] said, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.…For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:10-13). Jesus opened up God’s heart to men.
Watchman Nee
My heart's been torn wide open, just like I feared it would be, and I have no willpower to close it back up.
Marie Lu
Conventional wisdom nor scientific, mathematical prove of randomness in life could do nothing to deter human's curiosity for the unknown, however small the chance of a positive outcome maybe.
Vann Chow
And now that I have been scammed once, I felt like it could not happen to me again.
Vann Chow
I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.
I.M. Pei
Cutting down a wall, the wall sawyer could feel the tension in a home ease and something windy rush in circles round her feet. It was addictive, each a sweet victory of art. The tumbling motion of a falling wall was like a volcanic eruption fading into a mountain of roses. The wall sawyer felt a loving animosity toward walls. “You must pay attention to your obsessions, where life and love intersect,” she told the little queen. 
Meia Geddes
Whatever the measurement system is, it needs to be consistent, repeatable and as unbiased as possible.
Pearl Zhu
When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away...
Sun Tzu
If you want to govern the people,You must place yourself below them.If you want to lead people,You must learn how to follow them.
Lao Tzu
An army of the people is invincible!
Mao Zedong
A leader is bestWhen people barely know he existsOf a good leader, who talks little,When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,They will say, “We did this ourselves.
Lao Tzu
The library is like a candy store where everything is free.
Jamie Ford
And a moment that ought to have lasted for everHas come and gone before I knew.
Li Shang-yin
I spur my horse past the ruined city;the ruined city, that wakes the traveler's thoughts:ancient battlements, high and low;old grave mounds, great and small.Where the shadow of a single tumbleweed tremblesand the voice of the great trees clings forever,I sigh over all these common bones --No roll of the immortals bears their names.
Han-shan
Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese Proverb
The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.
Lao Tzu
You just cannot have the same thing twice without being disappointed.
Vann Chow
She doesn't need your money. Even a penniless fool like you can make her fall in love with you. That's just miracle.
Vann Chow
A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.
Mencius
He who is in harmony with the Taois like a newborn child.Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,but its grip is powerful.It doesn't know about the unionof male and female,yet its penis can stand erect,so intense is its vital power.It can scream its head off all day,yet it never becomes hoarse,so complete is its harmony.The Master's power is like this.He lets all things come and goeffortlessly, without desire.He never expects results;thus he is never disappointed.He is never disappointed;thus his spirit never grows old.
Lao Tzu
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Lao Tzu
All teachings are mere references. The true experience is living your own life. Then, even the holiest of words are only words.
Ming-Dao Deng