“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, "it is better to forget"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the jar of inedible food? if it is not seen, it does not horrify. what is past… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“From my years of teaching I know it's the children who say nothing who are in trouble more than the ones who complain.” — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“I hate to admit it," she said, "but for all we hear about the States, Canada's capacity for racism seems even worse." "Worse?" "The American Japanese were interned as we were in Canada, and sent off to concentration camps, but their property wasn't liquidated as ours was. And look how quickly the communities reestablished themselves in Los Angeles and San… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share
Language to me is a tool a very clumsy tool. And words are garden tools with which to till the soil of one's life. — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, "it is better to forget"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“we're a "lower order of people" in one breath we are damned for being "unassailable" and the next there is fear that we'll assimilate.… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“Some people," Aunt Emily answered sharply, "are so busy seeing all sides of every issue that they neutralize concern and prevent necessary action. There's… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
“In a time like this, let us trust in God even more. To trust when life is easy is no trust.” — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
People who talk a lot about their victimization make me uncomfortable. It's as if they use their suffering as weapons or badges of some… — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
Poetry is a kind of gasp, and there it is, a spark on the page. Fiction, on the other hand, is like swamp fire. — Joy Kogawa Copy Share Image
