11 Quotes & Sayings By Adeline Yen Mah

Adeline Yen Mah is a prolific author of Chinese literature. This is her first novel. Shen Ying's mother died when she was little, leaving her alone with her father, who was a doctor. Ying grew up in an isolated rural village in Yunnan province, where her father worked as a doctor for the local factory owner's family. She had only one friend, Lin Ming, who was also orphaned like her Read more

The two friends were inseparable until the day that Ying escaped from her father's house and Lin caught up to her after she hid in the woods for three days. When Ying returns home, she finds that her father has married again. The new wife is cruel and abusive to him. She also doesn't like his choice of friends: he always talks about "his" daughter, Shen Ying.

The new wife orders him to take his friend Lin Ming away with him to work at the factory. He follows this order without question, even though it means parting with his beloved daughter. Years later, after Ying has established herself as a doctor in the city, she writes to tell Lin Ming what happened. She invites him to come visit her one last time before he leaves for the city to work as a doctor for another family.

When he arrives, they are both surprised by how much they have changed since the days when they were children. Ying now has two successful children and an elegant home while Lin still lives in the same small hut where they were raised together, working as a doctor for an old lady living near his village. Ying wants to help make sure that nothing bad happens to Lin Ming since he's no longer able to work as a doctor himself anymore because of old age. She enlists him because she knows that he could not resist coming back if his only friend asked him to come back for one last time before leaving forever. When Lin Ming comes back home for good this time, however, he refuses to leave his village behind because he has already suffered so much there and has no desire to go through it again.

He ends up staying there alone all these years while Ying goes on with her life despite being angry at him for keeping himself trapped in their past together all these years without contacting anyone or doing anything about it except sending postcards every few months so that she can keep track of his location by following them on their journey across China from place to place where they have ever been together throughout their childhoods because she knows that if

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People with yuan fen are destined to like one another; Friendship develops even if a thousand miles apart. But should yuan fen be absent between two individuals, They will remain strangers despite sitting face-to-face Adeline Yen Mah
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To celebrate his prosperity, fellow employees and friends urged him to take a young concubine to "serve him". Even Ye Ye's boss, the London-educated K. C. Li, jokingly volunteered to "give" him a couple of girls with his bonus. Ye Ye reported all this in a matter-of-fact way in a letter to his wife, adding touchingly that he was a "one-woman man". Adeline Yen Mah
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No matter what else people may steal from you, they will never be able to take away your knowledge. Adeline Yen Mah
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I knew that I was the least-loved child because I was a girl and because my mother had died giving birth to me. Adeline Yen Mah
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In the early 1970s, racial and gender discrimination was still prevalent. The easy camaraderie prevailing in the operating room evaporated at the completion of surgical procedures. There was an unspoken pecking order of seating arrangements at lunch among my fellow physicians. At the top were the white male 'primary producers' in prestigious surgical specialties. They were followed by the internists. Next came the general practitioners. Last on the list were the hospital-based physicians: the radiologists, pathologists and anaesthesiologists - especially non-white, female ones like me. Apart from colour, we were shunned because we did not bring in patients ourselves but, like vultures, lived off the patients generated by other doctors. We were also resented because being hospital-based and not having to rent office space or hire nursing staff, we had low overheads. Since a physician's number of admissions to the hospital and referral pattern determined the degree of attention and regard accorded by colleagues, it was safe for our peers to ignore us and target those in position to send over income-producing referrals. This attitude was mirrored from the board of directors all the way down to the orderlies. Adeline Yen Mah
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That’s exactly what I’ll do, I thought to myself. After dinner, I’m going to ask BigBrother to teach me how to read this map. With Aunt Baba still in Tianjin, there’sobviously nobody looking out for me. I’ll just have to find my own way. Adeline Yen Mah
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Though life has to be lived forward, it can only be understood backwards Adeline Yen Mah
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Mother Teresa once said, "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted are the greatest poverty." To this I will add: Please believe that one single positive dream is more important than a thousand negative realities. Adeline Yen Mah
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Revenge is not worthy of you. If you concentrate on revenge, you will keep those wounds fresh that would otherwise have healed. Adeline Yen Mah
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Alcenith Crawford (a divorced ophthalmologist): "We women doctors have un-happy marriages because in our minds we are the superstars of our families. Having survived the hardship of medical school we expect to reap our rewards at home. We had to assert ourselves against all odds and when we finally graduate there are few shrinking violets amongst us. It takes a special man to be able to cope. Men like to feel important and be the undisputed head of the family. A man does not enjoy waiting for his wife while she performs life-saving operations. He expects her and their children to revolve around his needs, not the other way. But we have become accustomed to giving orders in hospitals and having them obeyed. Once home, it's difficult to adjust. Moreover, we often earn more than our husbands. It takes a generous and exceptional man to forgive all that. Adeline Yen Mah