WIST Quotations

Buck, Pearl S. -- “In Search of Readers,” in Helen Hull, The Writer’s Book (1950)

Dave — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:03:54 +0000

There are persons who honestly do not see the use of books in the home, either for information — have they not radio and even television? — or for decoration — is there not the wallpaper?

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
“In Search of Readers,” in Helen Hull, The Writer’s Book (1950)

Buck, Pearl S. -- “My Neighbor’s Son,” To My Daughters, with Love (1967)

Dave — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 11:44:58 +0000

You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
“My Neighbor’s Son,” To My Daughters, with Love (1967)

Buck, Pearl S. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
(Attributed)

Buck, Pearl S. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 03:12:31 +0000

We send missionaries to China so the Chinese can get to heaven, but we won’t let them into our country.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
(Attributed)

Quoted in Clifton Fadiman, The American Treasury: 1455-1955 (1955).

Buck, Pearl S. -- A Bridge for Passing, ch. 3 (1962)

Dave — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:02:24 +0000

Science and religion … are two sides of the same glass, through which we see darkly until these two, focusing together, reveal the truth.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
A Bridge for Passing, ch. 3 (1962)

Buck, Pearl S. -- My Several Worlds (1954)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I learned early to understand that there is no such condition in human affairs as absolute truth. There is only truth as people see it, and truth, even in fact, may be kaleidoscopic in its variety. The damage such perception did to me I have felt ever since … I could never belong entirely to one side of any question.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
My Several Worlds (1954)

Buck, Pearl S. -- My Several Worlds, Part 4 (1954)

Dave — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 21:28:47 +0000

Yet somehow our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
My Several Worlds, Part 4 (1954)
(Source)

See Dostoyevsky, Johnson.

Buck, Pearl S. -- The Good Earth, ch. 15 (1931)

Dave — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 15:12:49 +0000

Hunger makes a thief of any man.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
The Good Earth, ch. 15 (1931)

Buck, Pearl S. -- To My Daughters, With Love (1967)

Dave — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 16:55:26 +0000

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
To My Daughters, With Love (1967)

Buck, Pearl S. -- To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 4 “First Meeting” (1967)

Dave — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 17:06:06 +0000

Praise out of season, or tactlessly bestowed, can freeze the heart as much as blame. To praise for the wrong possession or attribute can wound beyond amends.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 4 “First Meeting” (1967)
(Source)

Buck, Pearl S. -- To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 15 “Men and Women” (1967)

Dave — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:13:14 +0000

To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 15 “Men and Women” (1967)
(Source)

Buck, Pearl S. -- What America Means to Me, ch. 10 (1942)

Dave — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 14:36:58 +0000

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
What America Means to Me, ch. 10 (1942)
(Source)

Critiquing lack of American policy in Asia, not just to defeat Japan, but to bring freedom to the people of China and India.

Buck, Pearl S. -- What America Means to Me, ch. 4 (1943)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:20:03 +0000

None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
What America Means to Me, ch. 4 (1943)

Buck, Pearl S. -- Interview, New York Post (26 Apr 1959)

Dave — Wed, 24 May 2017 00:03:50 +0000

I love people. I love my family, my children … but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
Interview, New York Post (26 Apr 1959)

Often paraphrased, "Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up."

Buck, Pearl S. -- Letter to the Editor, The New York Times (1941-11-22)

Dave — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:44:50 +0000

When hope is taken away from the people, moral degeneration follows swiftly after. Young colored men and women today are giving up hope of justice or security In their own country.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
Letter to the Editor, The New York Times (1941-11-22)
(Source)

Responding to a Times editorial (1941-11-12) regarding rising crime in Harlem, which she blamed on systemic racism in the US.