Asia

Explore 181 quotes by people from Asia

He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

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Topic

Vulnerability Fear

Author

Arundhati Roy

Source

The God of Small Things

Medium

Novel

Genre

Post-colonial literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Random House, 1997, ch. 21.

The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards.

Mencius

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Topic

People are basically good Human nature

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 6.

When a pair of magpies fly together
They do not envy the pair of phoenixes.

Lady Ho

More information about this quote

Topic

Birds Contentment Satisfaction

Author

Lady Ho

Source

A Song of Magpies

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lady Ho. A Song of Magpies. c. 300 BC.

Current Citation

Lady Ho. "A Song of Magpies." Women Poets of China, edited by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Zhong. New Directions Publishing, 1982.

This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

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Topic

Hurting others Family

Author

Arundhati Roy

Source

The God of Small Things

Medium

Novel

Genre

Post-colonial literature

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Random House, 1997, ch. 2.

The root of the kingdom is the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.

Mencius

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Topic

Political theory Social hierarchy

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 4.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 4.

The flowers withered,
Their color faded away,
While meaninglessly
I spent my days in the world
And the long rains were falling.

Ono no Komachi

More information about this quote

Topic

Wasting time Spending time Passage of time

Author

Ono no Komachi

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Medium

Poem

Language

Japanese

Time

914 910s 10th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Ono no Komachi. Kokinshu [Kokin Wakashu]. c. 914.

Current Citation

Ono no Komachi. "Kokinshu." Anthology of Japanese Literature, edited by Donald Keene. Vol. 1, Grove Press, 1994.

The rest of my life stretches out as an emptiness before me.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

The future

Speaker

Miss Kenton

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves.

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

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Topic

Falling in love

Speaker

Oshima

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Kafka on the Shore

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 海辺のカフカ [Kafka on the Shore]. Shinchosha, 2002.

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Rudyard Kipling

The Elephant's Child

More information about this quote

Topic

Questions

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

The Elephant's Child Just So Stories

Medium

Short story

Genre

Children's literature

Language

English

Time

1902 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Elephant's Child." Just So Stories. Macmillan and Co., 1902.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Elephant's Child." The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling. Wordsworth Editions, 1999.

Another’s soul is a dark forest.

Ivan Turgenev

More information about this quote

Topic

Limits of knowledge Connecting with others Intimacy

Speaker

Mikhail Alexandrovitch Rakitin

Author

Ivan Turgenev

Source

A Month in the Country

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

Russian

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. Two Women. 1855, act 1.

Current Citation

Turgenev, Ivan. A Month in the Country. Oxford University Press, 1991, act 1.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

Salman Rushdie

More information about this quote

Topic

Freedom of speech and expression Offensive speech

Author

Salman Rushdie

Source

Weekend Guardian

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Rushdie, Salman."In Good Faith." The Guardian, 10 Feb. 1990.

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Thinking outside the box Books

Speaker

Nagasawa

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Norwegian Wood

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. ノルウェイの森 [Norwegian Wood]. Kodansha, 1987.

But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there was a snuffling in the hollows at the base of a lovely throat. Only that a hard honey-colored shoulder had a semicircle of teethmarks on it. Only that they held each other close, long after it was over. Only that what they shared that night was not happiness, but hideous grief. Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

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Topic

Grief Forbidden love

Author

Arundhati Roy

Source

The God of Small Things

Medium

Novel

Genre

Post-colonial literature

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Random House, 1997, ch. 20.

To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes.

Akira Kurosawa

Quoted in The New York Times

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Topic

Artists Art

Speaker

Akira Kurosawa

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Obituary Newspaper

Language

Japanese

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lyman, Rick. "Akira Kurosawa, Film Director, Is Dead at 88." New York Times, 7 Sept. 1998, Section A, Page 1, https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/07/movies/akira-kurosawa-film-director-is-dead-at-88.html.

If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Rudyard Kipling

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

Common Form

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1919 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "Common Form." The Years Between. Methuen and Co., 1919, I. 1.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "Common Form." Selected Poems of Rudyard Kipling. Penguin Classics, 2006, I. 1.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Dogen

More information about this quote

Topic

Interconnectedness of all things The moon The sky

Author

Dogen

Source

Genjo Koan Shōbōgenzō

Statement Type

Zen koan

Language

Japanese

Time

1253 1250s 13th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dogen. "Genjo Koan [Actualizing the Fundamental Point]." Shobogenzo, c. 1253.

The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Evening Work

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

If you are under the impression you have already perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Self-improvement Personal development

Speaker

Mr. Stevens

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

There is nothing in the whole world so painful as feeling that one is not liked. It always seems to me that people who hate me must be suffering from some strange form of lunacy.

Sei Shonagon

More information about this quote

Topic

Wanting to be liked Man as social animal

Author

Sei Shonagon

Language

Japanese

Time

1002 1000s 11th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sei Shonagon. 枕草子 [The Pillow Book]. c. 1002.

Current Citation

Sei Shonagon. The Pillow Book, translated by Meredith McKinney. Penguin Classics, 2007.

The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Rudyard Kipling

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and animals Men and women

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

The Female of the Species

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1911 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Female of the Species." Morning Post, 20 Oct. 1911.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Female of the Species." Rudyard Kipling: Stories and Poems, edited by Daniel Karlin. Oxford University Press, 2015.