“Dressing badly has been a refuge much of my life, a way of compelling others to engage with my mind, not my physical presence. Page. 283”

“Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.”

“I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.”

“[T]he more critical lesson I learned that day is still one too many kids never figure out: don't be shy about making a teacher of any willing party who knows what he or she is doing.”

“I couldnt even tell if I had any sadness of my own, because I was so full of Abuelitas sadness.”

“Many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding were simply limits of class and cultural background, not lack of aptitude or application as I feared. Page 135”

“When you hold a grudge, you want someone elses sorrow to reflect your level of hurt but the two rarely meet.”

“See, those who wield the primordial forces of creation have a long-running grudge with physics.”

“What would the world come to if people kept carrying grudges against all reason? That has been the cross of Sicily, where men are so busy with vendettas they have no time to earn bread for their fa...”

“I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life.”

“To love somebody is not just a strong feeling -- it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise," writes psychologist Erich Fromm. "If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the...”

“You must first of all think justly. Dont sit in judgment over others when you dont know the truth of the matter.”

“So many words get lost. They leave the mouth and lose their courage, wandering aimlessly until they are swept into the gutter like dead leaves. On rainy days, you can hear their chorus rushing past...”

“You can listen to silence, Reuven. I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. It talks to me sometimes. I feel myself aliv...”

“Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.”