Erin Gruwell Quotes

Don't let the actions of a few determine the way you feel about an entire group. Remember, not all German's were Nazis.

Evil prevails when good people do nothing.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you tell kids they're stupid--directly or indirectly--sooner or later they start to believe it.

No matter what race we are, what ethnic background, sexual orientation, or what views we may have, we are all human. Unfortunately, not all humans see it that way.

It would be easy to become a victim of our circumstances and continue feeling sad, scared or angry; or instead, we could choose to deal with injustice humanely and break the chains of negative thoughts and energies, and not let ourselves sink into it.

Society just doesn't care about young people anymore, even if we are the future.

I have always been taught to be proud of being Latina, proud of being Mexican, and I was. I was probably more proud of being a "label" than of being a human being, that's the way most of us were taught.

Silence ensures that history repeats itself.

Fights don't solve matters, they just make things worse. (Diary 19)

Because if they grow up holding on to such terrible feelings, it could lead to another war come time in the future when the fate of the country is in their hands.

Ruining is a gift .. it's the way of changing.

Be the kind of people that have enough passion to change the world. If we let ourselves be fire, thunder, or lightning, we could alter everything.

I always say that the young people are the future of the world, and if we start with them first, if we educate and develop a sense of tolerance among them, our future, the future of this world, will be in good hands for generations to come.

It sounds strange, somewhat on the line between irony and absurdity, to think that people would rather label and judge something as significant as each other but completely bypass a peanut. ... World peace is only a dream because people won't allow themselves and others around them to simply be peanuts. We won't allow the color of a man's heart to be the color of his skin, the premise of his beliefs, and his self-worth. We won't allow him to be a peanut, therefore we won't allow ourselves to come to live in harmony. (Diary 18)

There were more courses than O.J. has alibis.

Remember not all Germans were Nazis.

i loved the freedom writers diary and even though i only read it because my teacher made us i loved the book. it shows me some feelings that i also feel sometimes, and even though i never finished reading it because i got lazy its the only book ive ever liked

No matter what race we are, what ethnic background, sexual orientation, or what views we may have, we are all human. Unfortunately, not all humans see it that way. Diary

They say America is the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave" but what's so free about a land where people get killed?

We were like a fire triangle, he was the oxygen, I was the flame, and together we made the fuel. All mixed together we were a fire.

I have always been taught to be proud of being Latina, proud of being Mexican, and I was. I was probably more proud of being a "label" than of being a human being, that's the way most of us were taught. Since the day we enter this world we were a label, a number, a statistic, that's just the way it is. Now if you ask me what race I am, like Zlata, I'll simply say, "I'm a human being.

I walk in the room and I feel as though all the problems in my life are not important anymore. I am home.

That’s exactly what we all are. We spend so much time trying to figure out what race a person is when we could just get to know them as individuals. I felt like answering their question with a question. Does it matter? Will it make a difference if she is Croatian, Muslim, Serbian?

I couldn’t talk, read, or write English. The third day of school, some Mexican guys spoke to me. We talked, played, and they taught me English.

Don’t let the actions of a few determine the way you feel about an entire group. Remember, not all Germans were Nazis.

I try to explain to them that I’m going though really bad times, but they don’t seem to care. All that matters to them is that I am not doing their work. Most teachers don’t want to be bothered with the reasons why.

Who would have thought of the “at risk” kids making it this far? But we did, even though the educational system desperately tried to hold us down. By labeling us at an early age, they were almost able to affect our school record for life.

I went through the rest of the day just sitting, not saying a word. I didn’t even write down my homework. I kept closing my eyes, and I would see his face. I know he is watching me from wherever he is. And when it’s my time to go, I know I’ll see him when I get there. All I have to do is wait.