The Unwanted Quotes

“Don't let this anger ruin your life any more than it already has. If you want to every achieve happiness, don't dwell on the past. Instead, start living. What is the point of obsessing that has already happened, and that you cannot change? Live! And be merry.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“A full moon hung across the heavens like a pregnant belly.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“But as much as I tried, I couldn't forget my past. The events that had shaped me continued to weigh on my soul.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Lying half-asleep in his embrace, I looked up and saw on his face the same expression I saw on countless lonely faces every day. It was the homesick look of the children who were lost in the chaos of warfare, witnessing death and disaster, longing for a meaningful touch.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Never had I beheld such despair.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Just remember, life is short. You have to enjoy every moment before it passes you by.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Hit me again, and I'll report you to the authorities. Follow me to my bed one more time, and I swear to the gods, I'll search for the most painful way to murder you.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“I was scarcely aware of the angry hands scratching and pulling at me from all directions. Instead, I closed my eyes and wished silently for death to free me.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“No longer did she look like a shy little maid who was trained to censor her thought before it reached her mouth. These past few days had turned her into a reserved yet intelligent young woman.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Instead of relishing life, people merely existed. Such was the case with my family.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“In all of my years doing this job, I have never given the drug to anyone over three months pregnant; not once, because everybody listens to me, except you.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“I don't have anything to give you, except to show you a way to better yourself.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Finally, the rain stopped. The sky draped like a large, starry blanket over the world. The moonlight painted the tiny waves around me the color of my grandfather's hair. I lifted my hands and laughed hysterically. My fingers dripped lustrous, metallic water like mercury. Specks of light danced on the ocean surface, beckoning me to join them. Time melted into space, letting me flow with it into oblivion.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Far beyond the trees, the sun peeked its carroty face over the dark blue water, sweeping away the silvery darkness.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“I can't go to America. I don't want to go to any foreign land where I don't speak the language or know the customs. I'd rather die here by the Vietcong's hands, among my ancestors, than live like a ghost among strangers. You go!”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“In the dense air, a gong reverberated. I wondered if it was to announce the end of my journey or the beginning of a new one.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“The city was like a fish dying on hard pavement, hopelessly gasping for air.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“If you want to ever achieve happiness, don't dwell on the past. Instead, start living. What is the point of obsessing over something that has already happened, and that you cannot change? Live! And be merry.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“As soon as she opened the door to her office and invited us in, a blast of cold wind from the air conditioner swallowed me in its gentle, westernized embrace. I took in a deep breath, and suddenly, America was inside my lungs. Next to me, my mother began to cry.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“What happened to you, boy? Miss the boat to Heaven, so you stop to visit Hell instead?”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Take me instead,' Mrs. Dang said, holding on to my arm tightly. 'I can fight if I have to. Leave my boy out of this.'
'Not a possibility,' he told her. 'In the old days, whenever I tangoed with Death, I needed my men. Death is here right now, and your son will do just fine.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Below us, the ocean moved like a giant dish of blue Jell-O under the sweeping winds.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“An hour later, a group of men from the funeral home arrived. With my grandfather's help, they cleaned my grandmother's body and marinated it in rice alcohol. When the wine had straightened her limbs, which had stiffened from rigor mortis, they dressed her in new clothes. Using a thick red thread, they tied her two big toes together to prevent her spirit from wandering.
A cheap red lacquered coffin was brought into my grandparents' bedroom. A layer of sand was spread at the bottom to cushion the body. Rich families would use tea leaves instead of sand. The more expensive the tea, the richer and higher in status the dead were. We covered the sand with coarse, loosely woven cotton gauze. After my grandmother's body was laid inside the coffin, a small dish filled with burning oil was placed on the ground beneath it to keep her spirit warm. Incense in a large urn perfumed the air. It was time for friends and relatives to pay their respects.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“For the remainder of her days, my grandmother lay in bed, staring past the window into space. It was if a part of her mind had died before her body had time to give up.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Death had kissed her long and hard with its frozen lips, and her body was stiff. I held her in my arms, hoping the warmth of my body could bring her back to life. Ignoring my brother's presence, I wept uncontrollably. With Lulu in my arms, I walked toward the front lawn. I had chosen a burial site for Lulu - a strip of land under the cherry tree overlooking the street.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“The mistress and her servant - you two are sharing the same man, aren't you? Don't lie to this old woman, some gigolo must have grabbed both of you like a pair of chopsticks.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Each time we stopped in front of a group of people to ask for information, the reaction we received was the same: they all looked at us dumbly at first, then smiled with courteous sincerity. If they knew of an escape, their knowledge would remain hidden behind their smiles before they, too, disappeared into the crowd.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“People talked to each other in between purchases to find out information. The buzz of their whispers made it sound as if the air were filled with flies.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Night overtook us like a skillful thief.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

“Their arrival was like an attack of locusts in a rice field, fast and uncontrollable.”
― Kien Nguyen, The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood