Viet Thanh Nguyen Quotes

Some animals could see in the dark, but it was only humans who deliberately sought out every possible route into the darkness of our own interiors.

Every full bottle of alcohol has a message in it, a surprise that one will not discover until one drinks it

If God did not exist, then neither did divine punishment, but this meant nothing to ghosts who did not need God.

We lie in wait for the right moment and the just cause, which, at this moment, is simply wanting to live.

Remember, you're not half of anything, you're twice of everything.

That is what revolutionaries do. We sacrifice ourselves to save others.

Her routine was as predictable as the rotation of the earth.

cheered by the optimism that one sometimes had at the beginning of strenuous exercise, a kind of helium that filled our lungs and carried us along

While it is better to be loved than hated, it is also far better to be hated than ignored.

I believe our clever young man has intuited that while only the pursuit of happiness is promised to all Americans, unhappiness is guaranteed for many.

Did we salivate for sadness, or had we only learned to enjoy what we were forced to eat?

Quoting Nguyen Du - Talent and destiny are apt to feud.

give a woman the chance to reject something else besides me

He responded with one of those looks of pity and amusement I was by now so used to getting, the kind that implied not only was my fly undone, but that there was nothing to see even if it was.

...nothing is more precious than independence and freedom...

All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.

no one asks poor people if they want war.

This feat I also had no idea how to accomplish, but ignorance had never stopped me from taking action before.