Pearl S. Buck, born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia, was an American author, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate. Her prolific literary career and tireless advocacy for social justice and human rights left an indelible mark on both the literary world and global consciousness.
Buck spent her formative years in China, as her parents were missionaries. Immersed in Chinese culture and language, she developed a deep appreciation and understanding of the country. This unique upbringing served as the foundation for her profound insights into Chinese society, which would later be reflected in her literary works.
Buck’s novels, including her most famous work “The Good Earth,” introduced Western readers to the intricacies of Chinese life, culture, and traditions. Through her vivid storytelling and empathetic characters, Buck bridged cultural divides and encouraged cross-cultural understanding. Her works illuminated the human condition, exploring themes of family, tradition, and the impact of social change.
Buck’s experiences in China, witnessing poverty, inequality, and the plight of women, fueled her passion for social justice and humanitarianism. She became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, racial equality, and the welfare of children. Buck’s novel “The Good Earth” shed light on the hardships faced by Chinese peasants, exposing social injustices and stimulating conversations about poverty and class disparity.
In 1938, Pearl S. Buck became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The prestigious honor acknowledged her literary contributions and her ability to illuminate the human experience. Buck’s writings captivated readers worldwide, fostering empathy and understanding across cultures.
Beyond her literary achievements, Buck’s dedication to humanitarian causes left a lasting impact. She co-founded the humanitarian organization Welcome House, which supported interracial adoption and helped displaced children find loving homes. Buck’s tireless efforts to promote social justice, women’s rights, and cultural understanding serve as an inspiration to this day.
Pearl S. Buck’s contributions as a writer, advocate, and cultural ambassador continue to resonate with readers and social activists. Her ability to capture the complexities of human nature, break down cultural barriers, and shed light on social injustices through her literature cemented her as a literary trailblazer and humanitarian icon. Pearl S. Buck’s profound insights, compassion, and commitment to equality remind us of the power of literature to inspire empathy, foster understanding, and drive positive change in the world.
Praise out of season, or tactlessly bestowed, can freeze the heart as much as blame.
Pearl S. Buck
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
Pearl S. Buck
The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.
Pearl S. Buck
The bitterest creature under heaven is the wife who discovers that her husband’s bravery is only bravado, that his strength is only a uniform, that his power is but a gun in the hands of a fool.
Pearl S. Buck
The basic discovery about any people is the discovery of the relationship between men and women.
Pearl S. Buck
Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.
Pearl S. Buck
The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it.
Pearl S. Buck
Race prejudice is not only a shadow over the colored it is a shadow over all of us, and the shadow is darkest over those who feel it least and allow its evil effects to go on.
Pearl S. Buck
Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then; life is dull without it.
Pearl S. Buck
Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.
Pearl S. Buck
Order is the shape upon which beauty depends.
Pearl S. Buck
One faces the future with one’s past.
Pearl S. Buck
Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment.
Pearl S. Buck
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.
Pearl S. Buck
To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death.
Pearl S. Buck
To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.
Pearl S. Buck
We send missionaries to China so the Chinese can get to heaven, but we won’t let them into our country.
Pearl S. Buck
We should so provide for old age that it may have no urgent wants of this world to absorb it from meditation on the next. It is awful to see the lean hands of dotage making a coffer of the grave.
Pearl S. Buck
What is a neglected child? He is a child not planned for, not wanted. Neglect begins, therefore, before he is born.
Pearl S. Buck
When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.
Pearl S. Buck
When men destroy their old gods they will find new ones to take their place.
Pearl S. Buck
You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.
Pearl S. Buck
You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.
Pearl S. Buck
Nothing in life is as good as the marriage of true minds between man and woman. As good? It is life itself.
Pearl S. Buck
Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up.
Pearl S. Buck
To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.
Pearl S. Buck
If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.
Pearl S. Buck
A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.
Pearl S. Buck
A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.
Pearl S. Buck
A man is educated and turned out to work. But a woman is educated and turned out to grass.
Pearl S. Buck
All things are possible until they are proved impossible – and even the impossible may only be so, as of now.
Pearl S. Buck
Chinese are wise in comprehending without many words what is inevitable and inescapable and therefore only to be borne.
Pearl S. Buck
Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.
Pearl S. Buck
Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.
Pearl S. Buck
Hunger makes a thief of any man.
Pearl S. Buck
I am mentally bifocal.
Pearl S. Buck
I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.
Pearl S. Buck
If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.
Pearl S. Buck
In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write.
Pearl S. Buck
Let woman out of the home, let man into it, should be the aim of education. The home needs man, and the world outside needs woman.
Pearl S. Buck
It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had better know it and set ourselves to try to discover other sources of moral strength before it is too late.
Pearl S. Buck
Nothing and no one can destroy the Chinese people. They are relentless survivors.
Pearl S. Buck
Life without idealism is empty indeed. We just hope or starve to death.
Pearl S. Buck
Like Confucius of old, I am so absorbed in the wonder of the earth and the life upon it, that I cannot think of heaven and the angels.
Pearl S. Buck
Love alone could waken love.
Pearl S. Buck
Love dies only when growth stops.
Pearl S. Buck
Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession.
Pearl S. Buck
Men would rather be starving and free than fed in bonds.
Pearl S. Buck
None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.
Pearl S. Buck
I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings. I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels.
Pearl S. Buck
