Jewell Parker Rhodes Quotes

Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better" (Rhodes).

Can't undo wrong. Can only do our best to make things right.

The world can be a hard place sometimes... You have to have heart. You have to be strong. Parents want their children to grow up to be strong. Not just any strong, mind you, but loving strong.

Can't undo wrong. Can only do our best to make things right" -Grandma

Women hand sight down through the generations. Mother to daughter.

But you...are my sweetest gift. The life surprise that soothed all my ills and gave me my greatest joys. I feel so blessed you are mine. —Mama Ya-Ya

The words strike like they never did before. Before words were flat. Now I hear them - understand in a new way.

When truth’s a feeling, can it be both? Both true and untrue?

Bear witness. My tale is told Wake. Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Don’t let me (Or anyone else) Tell this tale again

Home. It's where we come from. Who we are.

Sarah’s face is bleak. “I’m so sorry, Jerome. So, so sorry. If I could, I would hug you. Bring you back to life.” Her body leans forward like she thinks she

Home is our starting point for connecting to the past.

When asked a question, class, it's important to consider how it's framed. Sometimes a question is a door to another question, another way of seeing. Understanding.

Dedicated to the belief that we can all do better, be better, live better. We owe our best to each and every child.

Life’s too short to be mad.

My pop didn't go to war, but he's been disappearing just the same.

No science fiction or fantasy is going to help me. I live in a too-real world.

Bear witness. My tale is told. Wake. Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Don't let me (Or anyone else) Tell this tale again.

Last year, even my best friend, Keisha, stopped speaking to me when my family became homeless.

School doesn’t help with real life.

Color shouldn’t make anybody scared. Is it because slavery happened? Is that why some whites are afraid of black people? I don’t know. Wake up, people, I want to tell everyone. Fear, stereotypes about black boys don’t make the world better.

I hope the teacher doesn't say, 'Write an essay about your summer vacation.' If she does, I'll leave the paper blank. Else I'll have to lie. Say eviction is the best vacation. Hearing Ma weeping and Pa wheezing, cracking his knuckles while Leda sucks her pacifier, double-time, and Ray holds my hand. I never lie. I won't. It's better to keep quiet.

The hardest word for me to say is please. Being poor, you've sometimes got to ask for stuff - food, toothpaste, even soap. I don't want to ask anybody for anything.

I feel sorry for all those people in the planes and towers who were expecting an ordinary day.

That’s our journey this month. Figuring it all out. Home is our starting point for connecting to the past.

When asked a question, class, it's important to consider how it's framed. Sometimes a question is a door to another question, another way of seeing. Understanding.

Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better.

Can’t undo wrong. Can only do our best to make things right.

As New York Times bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes says, “I love historical fiction because there’s a literal truth, and there’s an emotional truth, and what the fiction writer tries to create is that emotional truth.

In this neighborhood, getting a child to adulthood is perilous.

You hope your seeds will take root and grow. So,

Liking, loving people shouldn’t be hard.

Swiftness, intelligence can win a match. But patience is the real necessary skill.

Fencing is in the body, but it’s also in the mind.

The best attack is unexpected.

Mutual respect is a sacred value for all fencers, at every level.

Wish I knew. Meeting you taught me to forgive myself. I don’t need to hate. Not anymore.