--- title: "1 Things Let Quotes By Yiyun Li" description: "1 Things Let quotes by Yiyun Li. Plus more from Yiyun Li and more Things Let sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg" --- > [What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let go, every before replaced by an after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-another-yet-why-write-if-not/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg) ## More by Yiyun Li > [“I am not and autobiographical writer--one can't be without a solid and explicable self--and read all autobiographical writers with the same curiosity. What kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-am-not-and-autobiographical-writer-one-can-t-be-without-a-solid-and/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [One easy mistake to make with the first novel is to expand the short story. Some things are better as a story; you cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/one-easy-mistake-to-make-with-the-first-novel-is-to-expand-the-short/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [“sometimes Moran wondered if her chief merit was her willingness to serve as a human receptacle for details. Sympathy and admiration and surprise she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/sometimes-moran-wondered-if-her-chief-merit-was-her-willingness-to/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [I always tell my students to go back after a hundred pages and rewrite from the beginning. It's really harder if you've already finished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-always-tell-my-students-to-go-back-after-a-hundred-pages-and/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [She wonders if this is what people call falling in love, the desire to be with someone for every minute of the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/she-wonders-if-this-is-what-people-call-falling-in-love-the-desire-to/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [Some people in China don't look at freedom of speech as an abstract ideal, but more as a means to an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/some-people-in-china-don-t-look-at-freedom-of-speech-as-an-abstract/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [I would never describe a cloud as 'fluffy'—in Chinese or in English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-would-never-describe-a-cloud-as-fluffy-in-chinese-or-in-english/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [“It saddened her that Luo insisted on holding on to her as if they had started to share some vital organs during their twenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/it-saddened-her-that-luo-insisted-on-holding-on-to-her-as-if-they-had/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [To write about a struggle amidst the struggling: one must hope that the muddling will end someday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/to-write-about-a-struggle-amidst-the-struggling-one-must-hope-that/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [I think our eyes are trained to look for what we want to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-think-our-eyes-are-trained-to-look-for-what-we-want-to-see/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [What is revolution except a systematic way for one species to eat another alive?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/what-is-revolution-except-a-systematic-way-for-one-species-to-eat/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [“His mother had always been a headstrong woman, and with her grayish-white mane and unsmiling face, she appeared as regal and intimidating as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/his-mother-had-always-been-a-headstrong-woman-and-with-her-grayish/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [In China, your freedom is always limited, but this limitation applies to almost everyone. If someone does injustice to you, though, you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/in-china-your-freedom-is-always-limited-but-this-limitation-applies/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [The boy will remain a son and never become a father. He will be forgotten by the crowd once his blood is rinsed clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/the-boy-will-remain-a-son-and-never-become-a-father-he-will-be/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [You can write about a country without taking a stand, but you cannot write about a country without noting that there's history, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/you-can-write-about-a-country-without-taking-a-stand-but-you-cannot/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-let/yiyun-li/#itemlist", "name": "1 Things Let Quotes By Yiyun Li", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let go, every before replaced by an after.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yiyun Li" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-another-yet-why-write-if-not/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let…” — Yiyun Li", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-let/yiyun-li/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-let/yiyun-li/", "name": "Things Let Quotes by Yiyun Li", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-let/yiyun-li/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/yiyun-li-12305_distance_what-a-long-way-it-is-from-one-life-to-a_1805706.jpg" }, "description": "1 Things Let quotes by Yiyun Li. 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