Quotes by Gene Luen Yang

To find your true identity within the will of Tze Yo Tzuh...that is the highest of all freedoms.

Family is in essence a small nation, and the nation a large family. In treating his own family with dignity, a ruler learns to govern his nation with dignity

[S]ometimes, a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting.

I wanted to make an explicitly educational comic that taught readers the concepts I covered in my introductory programming class. Thats what Secret Coders is. Its both a fun story about a group of tweens who discover a secret coding school, and an explanation of some foundational ideas in computer science.

This is a profession for me, but I started off as a self-publisher working on my own schedule and my own stuff before moving on to graphic novels with First Second Books, where there was definitely a schedule, but it was very different from monthly comics.

Religion and culture are two important ways in which we as humans find our identity. Thats certainly true for me.

I talk about religion because its one of the ways human beings find power and belonging. Religion is more than just that - I think faith traditions give us ways to talk about experiences of the numinous, too - but power and belonging are a big part of it.

I kind of just write what I like to write. Im thankful that readers of different ages seem to connect to my stories. I dont consciously think about age demographics when Im working on my comics.

Chin Shih-huang is the first emperor of China. He united seven separate kingdoms into a single nation. He built the Great Wall and was buried with the terra-cotta soldiers. The Chinese have mixed feelings about him. Theyre proud of the nation he created, but he was a maniacal tyrant.

My first job was as a programmer. So I feel like Im familiar with the information technology sector and the information technology culture.

I think there is always romantic tension between Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

In traditional Asian arts, the word and the picture always sit next to each other. I have an aunt, a Chinese brush painter, who told me that when you do a Chinese brush painting, you have to pair the image up with some poetry.