The Rainbow Troops Quotes

If chance be the Father of all flesh, Disaster is his rainbow in the sky, And when you hear State of Emergency! Sniper Kills Ten! Troops on Rampage! Whites go Looting! Bomb Blasts School! It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

Lintang was very rational; Mahar was a daydreamer. Mahar was easily inspired by just about anything. Like Lint- ang, Mahar also was a true genius—just a different kind of genius. This kind of genius isn’t easily understood by most people and is rarely considered “intelligent” by ordinary people’s standards.

We have to have dreams, high dreams, Boi, and school is the road we start on. Don’t give up, Boi. Don’t ever give up.

Eryn had brought out the feeling that no matter how miserable or failed my life was, I was still a bit useful to the world.

This is the amazing thing about being a child: the ability to quickly mend a broken heart after years of love

I drew up a promise deep in my heart: when I grew up, I would write a book for this teacher of mine.

That scholarship was a ticket out of a life I couldn’t be proud of.

People seeing the two of them would assume they were a couple, a handsome young man and a pretty tomboyish girl always together, equally crazy.

It was all because of Lintang. If there had been no Lintang, we wouldn’t have dared to dream.

He opened our eyes to the possibility that we could become more than we had ever dreamed. He gave us encouragement, even though we were full of limitations.

Lesson number three: If you are gorgeous, you will not lead a peaceful life.

And Ikal, masya Allah—my God, Ibunda, that boy was sent by Satan!

I wanted to read Lintang’s name under an article in a scientific journal.

But an eccentric like Mahar just might have a magical answer that could make me see my situation in a different light. Like most brokenhearted people, I was thinking irrationally.

They were crazy together, but their true sweetheart was the dark world of shamanism.

Bruce Lee smiled back at us.

I said nothing. It was clear that he was exhausted from fighting fate.

This wasn’t fair. Lintang, who had fought to the death for education, now had to leave.

Apparently God had answered my prayer with exactly the opposite of what I asked for. That’s the way God works.

we survived the most immediate of threats: the threat of ourselves, our disbelief in the power of education.

Just as stupidity often goes unrealized, some people are often unaware that they have been chosen, destined by God, to be betrothed to knowledge.

It is not because your work lacked quality; no matter what kind of work we do, we must have discipline. Talented people with a bad attitude are useless.

the law never siding with the poor;

Suddenly Lintang got up from his seat and went over to his father, took the form from his hands, and exclaimed, “I will be the one to fill out this form later, Ibunda Guru, after I have learned how to read and write!

The store on the hill was encased in a rainbow, closer and brighter than any Hazel had ever seen. The light was anchored at the store, shooting up into the heavens, bathing the countryside in a weird kaleidoscopic glow. The lady Cyclops hefted her club and charged at the store. As she hit the rainbow, her whole body began to steam. She wailed in agony and dropped her club, retreating with multicolored blisters all over her arms and face. “Horrible goddess!” she bellowed at the store. “Give us snacks!” The other monsters went crazy, charging the convenience store, then running away as the rainbow light burned them. Some threw rocks, spears, swords, and even pieces of their armor, all of which burned up in flames of pretty colors. Finally the giant leader seemed to realize that his troops were throwing away perfectly good equipment.

He was Rhoma Irama, the dangdut singer, a Malay backcountry idol—our Elvis Presley.

He was a guru in the true sense of the word, its Hindi meaning: a person who not only transfers knowledge but who also is a friend and spiritual guide for his students.

We were freed, but not yet free.

One of the extraordinary qualities of Malays is that no matter how bad their circumstances, they always consider themselves fortunate. That is the use of religion.

but I did not recover. It turns out lovesickness cannot be cured by worm-extract medicine.

What we need most in our classroom, Ibunda Guru, is inspiration!

Every time I read this plan, I had trouble sleeping.

What’s the point of school?” village children asked accusingly. “We won’t be able to continue anyway.

School was dignified and prestigious, a celebration of humanity; it was the joy of studying and the light of civilization.

I felt honored to be appointed secretary by a bunch of people who were friends with ghosts.

We knew that there were two things in this world that couldn’t be opposed: God and reporters.

These are Tuk Bayan Tula’s instructions: If you want to pass your exams, Open your books and study!

We had to let go of a natural genius. Lintang was like a lighthouse. He emitted such great energy, joy, and vitality. Near him we were bathed in light, which clarified our thoughts, ignited our curiosity, and opened the way to understanding. From him we learned humility, determination, and friendship. When he had pressed the button on the mahogany table at the Academic Challenge, he dared us to dream.

In Belitong Island, it wasn’t a giant corporation or the government that succeeded in restoring education as a basic human right for every citizen. It was the poor people themselves.

the most unfortunate in this world are the pessimistic.

but that is not the only thing a teacher does. She also opens hearts.

Flo’s only use for deep mystical experiences was to test herself, to see how much fear she could tolerate.

But one sincere love is apparently more than enough to change one’s entire perception of love.

Einstein’s relativity of simultaneity,

I soon realized that there were other beautiful things in this world besides love.

I was now diligent about visiting the municipal library in Tanjong Pandan.

A prayer had been answered on the spot.

We were so lucky God had sent us a teacher like Bu Mus. Her service was truly indescribable.

Mahar gave us the courage to compete. Lintang gave us the courage to dream.

They had been poisoned by money and refused to return to school.

Besides, what did they care? Belitong was not their homeland. Let it become a ghost island.

But we felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to study at the poor school with the extraordinary teachers who made us appreciate education, fall in love with school, and celebrate the joy of learning.

We had learned the spirit of giving as much as possible, not taking as much as possible. That mentality made us always grateful, even in poverty.

Every citizen has the right to an education

Lintang often risked his life for the sake of his education. Nevertheless, he never missed a day of school. He pedaled eighty kilometers round-trip every day.

Studying was entertainment that made him forget life’s hardships.

Lintang was obsessed with learning new things.

No way, Ibunda Guru. This morning I was almost swallowed by a crocodile. I don’t have time to wait. Explain it all, and explain it now.

If the heart is not envious of one with knowledge, then it can be illuminated by the rays of enlightenment. Like stupidity, intelligence is contagious.

He betrayed C. Simanjuntak.

he turned the beloved song into one we did not recognize. He betrayed C. Simanjuntak.

Because they owned only one bicycle, Lintang’s father departed from their home in the middle of the night to make the journey by foot. Once morning came, Lintang followed with his mother on the bicycle.

All moving things froze as if God had captured their movement with a giant camera from the sky. The camera flash was blinding. I saw stars.

I had just been hit by my very first love at very first sight—a most incredible feeling that only some are fortunate enough to experience.

Right there, among the stinky candlenut sacks, cans of kerosene, and sacks of jengkol beans, I had found love.

I had become a man with unlimited strength, and I was more than willing to cart Syahdan on the back of the bike to anywhere in the world. My friend, if you really want to know, that is what they call being madly in love.

It didn’t symbolize our aspirations, because we didn’t dare have any.

Performing as a faraway tribe from Africa was a brilliant idea. That tribe was known to be meagerly dressed. The fewer the clothes, the less funding required.

It was truly extraordinary—the master of kung fu and the master of dangdut now presided over our classroom.

He, like most politicians in this country, was that easy to buy.

Love made me a hopeless romantic.

Every Monday morning I could meet the other half of my heart, even though it was only a set of nails. And that was as far as our relationship progressed. No greetings, no words, just hearts talking through beautiful nails. No introductions, no face-to-face interaction. Our love was an unspoken love, a simple love, a shy love, but it was beautiful.

If there’s anything this world never has enough of, it’s love.

I answered him from my heart, telepathically. Hey, Hokkien kid, since when has love ever made sense?

she came down to earth like a Venus of the South China Sea.

Don’t ever be friends with someone who is obsessed with shamans.

Over on our left the other three tanks of our Troop are misshapen black beetles swimming in a cauldron of fire...great spouts of flame illuminate a long vista of forest...in a hurricane of blast the tops of the trees dance against a sky of incandescent orange. The explosions, starting as vermilion pinpricks, bulge into leaping rainbows of light. A huge square object rises lazily above the trees, turns slowly over and over, then drops into the writhing forest.