Kwame Alexander Quotes

Basketball Rule #1 In this game of life your family is the court and the ball is your heart. No matter how good you are, no matter how down you get, always leave your heart on the court.

Basketball rule #3 Never let anyone lower your goals. Others’ expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life. The sky is your limit, sons. Always shoot for the sun and you will shine.

Basketball Rule #4 If you miss enough of life's free throws you will pay in the end.

Basketball Rule #5 When you stop playing your game you've already lost.

Basketball Rule #10 A loss is inevitable, like snow in winter. True champions learn to dance through the storm.

Bullies don't like to fight, son. They like to win. Being afraid is normal. The only fight you really have to win is the one against the fear.

Basketball Rule #6 A great team has a good scorer with a teammate who's on point and ready to assist.

Basketball Rule #2 (random text from Dad) Hustle dig Grind push Run fast Change pivot Chase pull Aim shoot Work smart Live smarter Play hard Practice harder

Basketball Rule #7 Rebounding is the art of anticipating, of always being prepared to grab it. But you can't drop the ball.

The poems were cool. The best ones were like bombs, and when all the right words came together it was like an explosion.

I think being an adult must be confusing as hell.

Books are fun, Nicholas, he says, they're like amusement parks for readers. Yeah, well, maybe they would be fun if I got to pick the rides sometimes, you answer

Never let anyone lower your goals. Others' expectations of you are determined my their limitations of life. The sky is your limit, sons. Always shoot for the sun, and you will shine.

Basketball Rule #3 Never let anyone lower your goals. Others' expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life. The sky is your limit, sons. Always shoot for the sun and you will shine.

There's a lot of love around you, but if you don't see it, it's not there.

Look at the mirrors in your friends eyes. That's all anyone ever needs. Too see beauty and reflection in others. Those are real mirrors.

Own the sadness, don’t let it own you.

In this life, rain’s gonna fall, but the sun will shine again,

Basketball Rule #9 When the game is on the line, don't fear. Grab the ball. Take it to the hoop.

tricks are for kids,

Basketball Rule #8 Sometimes you have to lean back a little and fade away to get the best shot.

...it's just one miss, but you're gonna have a whole lotta makes in this life, 'cause you're just that good, and it's okay to be down and upset as long as you're not down and out

Sometimes it’s the things that aren’t said that kill you.

Find your grit and put in the work to elevate your game. Champions train. Chumps complain.

Because Dad told you he'd be here forever. Because I thought forever was like Mars -- far away.

He's no longer listening to music, but his tears are loud enough to dance to.

don’t rush though: your eyes need time to taste. your soul needs room to bloom.

Life is a mountain, Youngblood. Nobody said the climb was gonna be easy. You gotta choose your route. Get your gear. Breathe. Clear your mind. And enjoy the journey

Sometimes it's the things that aren't said that kill you" -Josh

Did y’all arrest Uncle Bob’s turkey? It was just criminal what he did to that bird, wasn’t it? You

Never let anyone lower your goals. Others' expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life.

All that is good and accomplished in this world takes work and a little chaos.

It does not take a math genius to understand that when you subtract a mother from the equation what remains is negative.

A loss is inevitable, like snow in winter. True champions learn to dance through the storm.

You love me? Like summer loves short nights.   Get a checkup, then. Only cure I need is you.   I’m serious about this, Chuck. Only doctor I need is Dr. Crystal Bell. Now come here . . .   And then there is silence, so I put the pillow over my head because when they stop talking,   I know what that means. Uggghh!

In this game of life your family is the court and the ball is your heart. No matter how good you are, no matter how down you get, always leave your heart on the court.

Once you carry your own water you will know the value of every drop.

Always shoot for the sun and you will shine.

The heart is a small and lonesome place she is a country her eyes hold the river I used to swim her skin, the morning fruit I touched and tasted the heart is a small and lonesome place she is a country I no longer live in.

putyourFACEinaBOOK

It's just hard to love someone who cancels the cable right before the Walking Dead marathon.

From Playbook Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.-Scottie Pippen, six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls.

What you do not suffer for, you can never truly value.

When you stop playing your game you’ve already lost.

Silence doesn’t mean we have run out of things to say, only that we are trying not to say them.

Bullies don’t like to fight, son. They like to win. Being afraid is normal. The only fight you really have to win is the one against the fear.

There should be a statute of limitations on unrequited love.

We all have what it takes to do exactly what we want to do in life, no matter what anyone else says. If someone tells you, “You can’t do this because you are [fill in the blank],” I say embrace the challenge. Wear it like a new pair of Converse or Jordans. Meet it head-on.

is a MYTHical MANchild Of rather dubious distinction Always AGITATING COMBINATING and ELEVATING his game He dribbles fakes then takes the ROCK to the glass, fast, and on BLAST But watch out when he shoots or you’ll get SCHOOLed FOOLed UNCOOLed ’Cause when FILTHY gets hot He has a SLAMMERIFIC SHOT It’s Dunkalicious CLASSY Supersonic SASSY and D O W N right in your face mcNASTY

Orphans The word seems sad when you say it. An orphan is like a soul bulb waiting to be planted in just the right place. When you’re an orphan, you no longer belong, but a child is a child of everyone, they belong to a community, to a greater garden, she says.

If your brother pisses you off, tell him about. If he listens to you, he is your brother for life. Real profound. It is. Matthew said it. Who’s Matthew? The Bible Matthew, yo? I doubt the Bible says “pissed off,” Walt. I was paraphrasing. Just trying to elucidate the power of communication between brothers.

You know, Chuck, You're not always gonna swish. You gonna miss some. Heck, you gonna miss a lot. That's the way the rel world works. But you gotta grab the ball and keep shooting. You understand? I tell you what, though, you'll make a lot more than you miss if you're not always going for the flash and flair.

I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. —Michael Jordan, six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, five-time MVP

I sit behind the steering wheel and close my eyes for a moment that feels as raw as an open wound

Boys with no self-control become men behind bars" -Crystal

We Da Man

Books matter because kids matter and books make our kids better than we are.

:A setback is a setup for a comeback.

A family tie is like the river. It can bend, but it cannot break.

You can get used to things going well, but you're never prepared for something going wrong.

Identical twins are no different from everyone else, except we look and sometimes sound exactly alike.

I want them to know that banning a book is like banning a hug and THAT is a dismal storm no child should be left behind in

Silence doesn't mean we have run out of things to say, only that we are trying not to say them.

If you miss enough of life's free throws, you will pay in the end.

Never let anyone lower your goals. Others’ expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life.

It’s as awkward as things can get. But I hear grace can feel that way at first.

Chambers if I am your heart imagine me inside beating, pumping, loving

Because it turns out forever is like the mall—right around the corner.

Don’t you see I need to be here so they can fix the damage that’s been done to my heart? Who’s gonna fix the damage that’s been done to mine?

When the game is on the line, don’t fear. Grab the ball. Take it to the hoop.

Basketball rule #3 Never let anyone lower your goals Other's expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life. The sky is the limit, sons. Always shoot for the sun And you _will_ shine.

It’s about soldiers who don’t think for themselves, they just follow orders. The song got him into a lot of trouble. Like what? Ironically, he was banned from Ghana. And because of the song, the very soldiers he spoke out against were ordered to kill his mother. Did they? The zombies did.

The sign above my seat reads In Emergency Break Glass. This is an emergency. I feel broken. Why haven’t I told her? WHY HAVEN’T I TOLD HER?! Why haven’t you told her? the old man asks, in my head. And don’t even think about breaking that window. It’s Illegal. A federal offense. So is loving someone for this long and not doing something about it.

the flag means a lot of different things to a lot of different folks. But the one thing it should mean for everyone is freedom. Mind, body, and soul. Red, white, and blue. America the beautiful. The greatest love story yet to be. Remember this, love gotta always win, gotta be sincere. Hate that which is evil, and hold fast to everything that is good and righteous, ya hear me?

Do they even have soccer in Kentucky?

I want them to know that banning a book is like banning a hug and that is a dismal storm no child should be left behind in.

The mind of a fool is like a broken pot. It holds nothing.

Dreams are today’s answers for tomorrow’s questions.

Dreams are hints from the beyond, but they can also be warnings.

Though I have eyes, I am blinded by a vision that no longer sees you.

Thought It does not take a math genius to understand that when you subtract a mother from the equation what remains is negative.

TEN REASONS WHY FATHERS CRY AT NIGHT 1. Because teenagers don’t like park swings or long walks anymore unless you’re in the mall. 2. Because holding her hand is forbidden and kisses are lethal. 3. Because school was “fine,” her day was “fine,” and yes, she’s “fine.” (So why is she weeping?) 4. Because you want to help, but you can’t read minds.

this game of life your family is the court and the ball is your heart. No matter how good you are, no matter how down you get, always leave your heart on the court.

it’s just one miss, but you’re gonna have a whole lotta makes in this life, ’cause you’re just that good, and it’s okay to be down and upset as long as you’re not down and out.

I want them to know that banning a book is like banning a hug and THAT is a dismal storm no should be left behind in

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The sun shines on those who stand up for themselves, before it shines on those who kneel to cowardice.

They say that those who loved you return to you in dreams.

Sometimes you have to lean back a little and fade away to get the best shot.

I guess you Da Man now, Filthy, JB says. And for the first time in my life I don’t want to be. I bet the dishes you miss number fifty, he says, walking away. Where’s he going? Hey, I shout. We Da Man. And when he turns around I toss him the ball. He dribbles back to the top of the key, fixes his eyes on the goal. I watch the ball leave his hands like a bird up high, skating the sky, crossing over us.

All because your bike got stolen and you lost your cool one night and then posted that you needed someone to intervene between you and the monsters and your cousin Julie told your aunt who called your dad who texted Mom who drove all night and scheduled an appointment with St. Nick who thinks your post was a cry for help when actually you were just listening to Eminem and thought the song was kinda nice

Center for Relational Recovery on a pleather

The mind of an adult begins in the imagination of a child.

Thought It does not take a math genius to understand that when you subtract a mother from the equation what remains is negative.

Out of the Dust is a story about a lanky piano-playing girl named Billie Jo whose mother is gone, whose father’s heart and soul are disappearing into the dust that blankets their Oklahoma town, and even though the first 59 pages rain down hard on you, when you get to page 60 the monsoon comes and the book is unputdownable.

If you miss enough of life’s free throws you will pay in the end.

Kupenda KWAME ALEXANDER I have never been a slave Yet, I know I am whipped I have never escaped underground Yet, the night knows my journey I have never been to Canada Yet I’ve crossed your border If I were a poet in love I’d say that with you I have found that new place Where romance is just a beginning And freedom is our end.