This book overall was a little uneven for me (see my complete review here). However, there is this one quote from the beginning of the book that I loved so much I had to share it here.
A pious man explained to his followers: ‘It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. “Don’t be scared,” I tell those fishes. “I am saving you from drowning.” Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.
~ Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
This quote is used to explain how somebody may think he is helping another person, but it is actually detrimental. It can also be used (depending on the context) for a man to justify an evil deed. Regardless of the context, this paragraph was in the book’s preface, and I liked it so much that I picked up the book to read.
What do you think of this quote? Would it have prompted you to read this book?
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
