Dragon Seed

Lao Ta Tan - Eldest Son:
[rhetorically] Do you not know that in a woman eagerness passes for weakness?

Lao Er Tan - Middle Son:
I do not have the words.

Jade Tan:
I am not very learned.

Lao Er Tan - Middle Son:
Is that why you do not often speak to me?

Jade Tan:
Two must speak for understanding.

Wu Lien:
Yes, yes, I read often in the winter to warm my blood, sometimes in the summer to cool it.

Ling Tan:
[to Jade] Remember, my child, that the woman is the root and the man is the tree. The tree grows only as high as the root is strong.

Japanese Official:
[to restaurant waiter] Oh, no wine, hunh, and where are your women? [laciviously] There are other things than wine!

Wu Lien:
I am neither for or against anything.

Jade Tan:
What you are not for you are against.

Captain Sato:
[rhetorically] How could we conquer a country without its traitors?

Ling Tan:
How can you dig such a thing without help? The earth is stubborn.

Ling Tan's Wife:
Heaven gave me the thought. Heaven will provide the help. The shovel is there.

Ling Tan's Wife:
[referring to a Japanese officer] Why do you not defy him?

Ling Tan:
Alive I can hold my land. Dead I can only hold as much as I am buried in.

Ling Tan:
[referring to Jade's son] He has his eyes open. Make sure the one who teaches him has his eyes open.