Wartime wisdom quotes from ‘Slow Noodles’ by Chantha Nguon

Chantha Nguon’s touching memoir, ‘Slow Noodles’, is filled with insight about survival. Caught between two war-ravaged countries (Cambodia and Vietnam), Nguon lives through hunger, poverty, violence, and loss. As she recounts her painful experiences in this book, she not only shares her history but also the lessons she’s learned from being a female wartime survivor in Southeast Asia.

Here are some heart-wrenching and hopeful quotes from her story:

“Once you have learned to lose everything, there’s nothing left to fear.”

“A poor woman’s heart grows stouter as her options narrow. She has no choice but to make bold moves, take wild chances, tempt fate.”

“When you are hungry, the past and future darken, only the present is visible.”

“Hunger focuses the mind but shrinks one’s hopes.”

“The memory of hunger is a curse that never leaves you.”

“Hope, together with despair, can make you believe in anything.”

“Free will is a muscle. It requires exercise.”

“Freedom of choice exists on a continuum of duress.”

“God’s will is not a reason to give into despair. Nor is astrological fatalism.”

“Hope can be dangerous when you have no power to enact the thing hoped for, when you are merely waiting. To be of use, optimism needs to set something in motion. Hope without enterprise ages poorly, leaving an aftertaste of bitterness and apathy.“

” I wonder, without answer, which one is a greater strength: feeling too much, or allowing yourself no feelings at all?”

“A wound can become a source of power.”

“Charity gets tiring.”

“The moral of the morning glory is this: For plants or humans, making yourself indispensable is key to survival.”

“When you have nothing, weakness can destroy you.”

“I’ve often wondered why, in a poor country where women must work as hard as men just to feed their children, feminine “softness” is so highly prized. I no longer consider it a valuable attribute.”

“Survival mentality cannot see further than today’s meal.”

“If you want the fruit, you have to climb the tree… You will fall many times. But the fruit tastes sweetest when you pick it yourself.”

“When you feel powerless, you can always find at least one thing to do, however small it may be.”

“Knowledge will always carry you.”

“Even when you lose everything, you can fight hard and win it back again – if you are patient and stubborn enough.”