What one carries from one point to another, geographically or temporally, is one's self.
-- Narrator (Yiyun Li) (Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life)

Importance: This quote suggests that, even once a person does not have a strong sense of self due to suicidal thoughts, depression, or other reasons, the self is nevertheless inescapable. This inescapability undermines the concept that there is a dramatic shift between the states of "before" and "after" since the self is a through-line between the two which prevents total transformation. This omnipresence of the self also suggests that it is difficult or impossible to avoid some form of autobiography when writing. Although Li does not wish to be an autobiographical writer, the self is always present in the writing process and cannot help but influence it.

Only the lifeless can be immune to life.
-- Narrator (Yiyun Lee) (Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life)

Importance: This quote asserts that the inherent nature of living means that one will unavoidably be exposed to all the joys and tragedies...