“Ah well, perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked.”

— Pearl S. Buck, China, Past and Present, 1972, Ch. 6

About Pearl S. Buck

1892 – 1973

American novelist, Nobel laureate in Literature (1938), author of "The Good Earth".

“The really brave man simply acts brave—he doesn't have to talk about it.”

“A man is educated and turned out to work. But a woman is educated — and turned out to grass.”

“Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”