“a talent is something you use, not something that uses you. The talent you cannot not use, the talent that possesses you—that is a hazard” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“He had a Minnesotan’s admiration for resourcefulness in the face of hardship, bred by generations of people one very bad winter away from starvation… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“When was the last time an American president found it worth his while to write a speech on the importance of art and literature?… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“We don't succeed or fail because of fortune or luck. We succeed because we understand the way the world works and what we have… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“Innocence and guilt. These are cosmic issues. We’re all innocent on one level and guilty on another. Isn’t that what Original Sin is all… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“After all, nothing was more American than wielding a gun and committing oneself to die for freedom and independence, unless it was wielding that… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“She wondered what, if anything, she knew about love. Not much, perhaps, but enough to know that what she would do for him now… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“One could choose between innocence and experience, but one could not have both.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“then, to present myself as just another immigrant, glad to be in the land where the pursuit of happiness was guaranteed in writing, which,… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“He was more embarrassed and discreet about sex than about things I thought more difficult, like killing people, which pretty much defined the history… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“While it is better to be loved than hated, it is also far better to be hated than ignored” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“Every full bottle of alcohol has a message in it, a surprise that one will not discover until one drinks it.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“We shared a passion for words, but I preferred the silence of writing while she loved to talk. She” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“Are you going to be the kind of person who always pays the asking price?” my mother demanded. “Or the kind who fights to… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
“Even if they found themselves in Heaven, our countrymen would find occasion to remark that it was not as warm as Hell.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share
