prophecies do not alter fate, only confirm it.

- Bette Lord

In yielding we are like the water, by nature placid, conforming to the hollow of the smallest hand; in time, shaping even the mountains to its will. …

- Bette Lord

The young see what they wish to see. The old see what they do not wish.

- Bette Lord

you must not use wood to put out the fire.

- Bette Lord

If mortals wait until the gods remake the world to their liking to be happy, they are already in hell.

- Bette Lord

Like most Chinese, I am basically a fatalist - too sophisticated for religion and too superstitious to deny the gods.

- Bette Lord

to ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.

- Bette Lord

A secret, like a chore, always seems to lead to another, one even more troublesome than the first.

- Bette Lord

What harm is there in dreaming, if it eases pain? What good is reality, if it blots out hope? Can a man's mind be washed without bleaching his soul?

- Bette Lord