“One must be grateful for one's education no matter how it arrives.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Education Copy Share Image
“Her routine was as predictable as the rotation of the earth.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Earth Copy Share Image
“Every full bottle of alcohol has a message in it, a surprise that one will not discover until one drinks it.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Alcohol Copy Share Image
“while only the pursuit of happiness is promised to all Americans, unhappiness is guaranteed for many.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Happiness Copy Share Image
“a talent is something you use, not something that uses you. The talent you cannot not use, the talent that possesses you—that… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Talent Copy Share Image
“Sadistic military barbers intent on revealing the contours of their skulls for some nefarious phrenological purpose.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“As the crapulent major said, A man doesn’t need balls in this country, Captain. The women all have their own.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“But I guess oil was to be found in every part of the world, just like anger and sorrow.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Sorrow Copy Share Image
“When your grandchildren ask you what you did during the war, you can say, I made this movie.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Grandchildren Copy Share Image
“What makes us human is that we're the only creatures on this planet that can fuck ourselves” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“Now a guarantee of happiness—that’s a great deal. But a guarantee to be allowed to pursue the jackpot of happiness? Merely an… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Happiness Copy Share Image
“A nineteenth-century Russian novel and vodka accompanied each other perfectly. Reading a novel while one sipped vodka legitimized the drink, while the… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Books 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… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“What was it like to live in a time when one’s fate was not war, when one was not led by the… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“Time howled in my ear, screaming with laughter at the idea that we could control it with wristwatches, alarm clocks, revolutions, history.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“You wouldn’t know right from wrong.” There was no trace of anger in his voice. “The only way a man knows right… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“My American adolescence was filled with tales of woe like this, all of them proof of what my mother said, that we… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Parenting Copy Share Image
“I sipped my scotch. It was smoky and smooth, tasting of peat and aged oak, underscored by licorice and the intangible essence… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“When was the last time an American president found it worth his while to write a speech on the importance of art… — Viet Thanh Nguyen American president Copy Share Image
“Even if refugees, undocumented immigrants, and legal immigrants are not all potential billionaires, that is no reason to exclude them. Even if… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Billionaires Copy Share Image
“All sorts of situations exist where one tells lies in order to reach an acceptable truth, and our conversation continued thus until… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“Almost everything looked more beautiful from a distance, the earth becoming ever more perfect as one ascended and came closer to seeing… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Beauty Copy Share Image
“then, to present myself as just another immigrant, glad to be in the land where the pursuit of happiness was guaranteed in… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Happiness Copy Share Image
“America’s great promise! The promise of the immigrant! The promise of the American Dream! The promise that the people of this country… — Viet Thanh Nguyen American dream Copy Share Image
“It wouldn’t do to bring infectious ideas into a country unused to them.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Ideas Copy Share Image
“I was not a bastard, I was not a bastard, I was not, I was not, I was not, unless, somehow, I… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“But the only thing harder than knowing the right thing to do, I went on, is to actually do the right thing.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Doing the right thing Copy Share Image
“While the clerks chatted in a language I could not understand, I hesitated, yearning to take everything home but unable to choose.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“I was not a bastard, I was not, I was not, I was not, unless, somehow, I was.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“While it is better to be loved than hated, it is also far better to be hated than ignored” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“One could choose between innocence and experience, but one could not have both.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“The open secret of the clock, naked for all to see, was that we were only going in circles. After” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Copy Share Image
“At the gates, prickly rolls of barbed wire sagged with middle-aged disappointment.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Barbed Copy Share Image
“Death would hurt only for a moment, which was not so bad when one considered how much, and for how long, life… — Viet Thanh Nguyen Death Copy Share Image
“Isn't it funny that in a society that values freedom above all things, things that are free are not valued?” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Freedom Copy Share Image
“We shared a passion for words, but I preferred the silence of writing while she loved to talk. She” — Viet Thanh Nguyen Silence Copy Share Image
