Nic Stone Quotes

You can’t change how other people think and act, but you’re in full control of you. When it comes down to it, the only question that matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be?

You ever consider that maybe you not supposed to 'fit'? People who make history rarely do.

People often learn more from getting an undeserved pass than they would from being punished.

You can't change how other people think and act, but you're in full control of you.

But before you say something “isn’t fair,” you should consider your starting point versus someone else’s.

SJ: Ah, okay... so you're saying people just need to pull themselves up by their boostraps? Jared: Exactly. SJ: In order to do that, they have to be able to afford boots.

Yeah, there are no more “colored” water fountains, and it’s supposed to be illegal to discriminate, but if I can be forced to sit on the concrete in too-tight cuffs when I’ve done nothing wrong, it’s clear there’s an issue. That things aren’t as equal as folks say they are.

What do I do when my very identity is being mocked by people who refuse to admit there’s a problem?

You ever consider that maybe you not supposed to ‘fit’? People who make history rarely do.

I thought if I made sure to be an upstanding member of society, I’d be exempt from the stuff THOSE black guys deal with, you know? Really hard to swallow that I was wrong.

Why try to do right if people will always look at me and assume wrong?

Life is a journey without a map, and as such, we'll all encounter twists and turns that force us to correct our course or change directions entirely.

I BELIEVE THAT UNARMED TRUTH AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE WILL HAVE THE FINAL WORD IN REALITY. —REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, DECEMBER 10, 1964

I’ve got one memory of the day everything happened: sharp pains in my chest and shoulder, and then not being able to breathe. In that moment when I thought I was dying, it hit me: despite how good of a dude Martin was, they still killed him, man.

And that’s what it comes down to. We find the families we were desperate for and learn different ways of going about things. Ways that sometimes land us in places/positions we don’t really wanna be in.

That idiot ‘pundit’ would rather believe you and Manny were thugs than believe a twenty-year veteran cop made a snap judgment based on skin color. He identifies with the cop. If the cop is capable of murder, it means he’s capable of the same. He can’t accept that.

Resist when the world tries to convince you otherwise.

No need to send a king when a princess will do.

But I don’t think knowing he’d be killed would’ve changed the way he lived, Jus. He challenged the status quo and helped bring about some change. Pretty sure that was his goal. Wouldn’t you agree?

It’s like I’m trying to climb a mountain, but I’ve got one fool trying to shove me down so I won’t be on his level, and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave.

All they ‘protect and serve’ is their own interests

The real issue? He didn't wanna be the black guy accused of "playing the race card" at a state tournament.

He turned to her then. Though he prolly shouldn't have. Cuz feelings.

because I was asking the wrong damn question. Every challenge I’ve faced, it’s been What would Martin do? and I could never come up with a real answer. But if I go with Doc’s thinking—Who would Martin BE?—well, that’s easy: you’d be yourself. THE eminent MLK: nonviolent, not easily discouraged, and firm in your beliefs.

It’s like I’m trying to climb a mountain, but I’ve got one fool trying to shove me down so I won’t be on his level, and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave. Jared and Trey are only two people, but after today, I know that when I head to Yale next fall (because I AM going there), I’m gonna be paranoid about people looking at me and wondering if I’m qualified to be there. How do I work against this, Martin? Getting real with you, I feel a little defeated. Knowing there are people who don’t want me to succeed is depressing. Especially coming from two directions.

Turn on the news, another black man slain. They say "Its okay. Save your voice, don't complain. This isn't about race so stop using that excuse. Now look at this funny picture of Obama in a noose! See how colorblind we are? You're not really black to me. Underneath, where it all matters, we both bleed red you see? So put away that race card: it aint 1962. Theres no more segregation, isn't that enough for you?

Kyle: Right, dude. Like I totally don’t even see you as black, Manny! [Manny laughs at this, but Justyce can tell his heart isn’t in it. The statement makes Justyce think about those handcuffs… these fools might not “see” Manny “as black,” but Justyce knows damn well the police would.]

He identifies with the cop. If the cop is capable of murder, it means he’s capable of the same. He can’t accept that.

Blake, though? Blake takes it too far. He’s dressed as a Klansman. He’s got on the white robe with the circular red and white cross patch on the chest, and he even has the pointed hood with the eyeholes cut out. If Jus didn’t know it was a costume, he’d be a little scared.

Why try to do right if people will always look at me and assume wrong?” Justyce

Every time I turn on the news and see another black person gunned down, I'm reminded that people look at me and see a threat instead of a human being.

If you were ME, and I was YOU, would you invest in ME as YOU?

You ever consider that maybe you're not supposed to 'fit'? People who make history rarely do.

What do I do when my very identity is being mocked by people who refuse to admin there’s a problem?

But the thing about people who are perceived to be unexceptional is that they are frequently underestimated.

Turn on the news, another black man slain. They say “It’s okay. Save your voice, don’t complain. This isn’t about race, so stop using that excuse. Now, look at this funny picture of Obama in a noose! See how color-blind we are? You’re not

some of Quan’s words run laps in Jus’s head: Resistance is existence….These white people don’t got no respect for us….There’s no escaping the Black Man’s Curse….It’s exactly the kind of thinking Jus tried to combat with the letters to Martin.

But that’s the thing: getting rid of the mental illness stigma means getting rid of the idea that what people experience based on their brain chemistry can make them socially unacceptable. Like we all want people to think we’re so strong and tough and invincible. But…we’re not. We’re human.

at

there was no not noticing the number of brown faces that came and stayed compared to the number of not-brown ones that came and left.

Those assholes can’t seem to care about being offensive, so why should I give a damn about being agreeable?

Wakanda forever.

So I guess I can check off 'finishes my sentences' on the Ideal Partner list.

It was supposed to be a simple picnic. It'd been two months since Hazel, on her stepfather's orders, broke things off with Gray.

These white people don’t got no respect for us, dawg. Especially the cops. All they ‘protect and serve’ is their own interests.

The trouble started some six months back, when Hazel’s mother began seeing a monster.

A rich, white widower (according to him) taking interest in a black woman without a cent to her name made perfect sense, once you saw Hazel’s mother. Her beauty made her a prize.

Gray cared because he hadn’t been cared for. He was attentive because he’d wanted someone to pay attention.

The reason I joined the Black Jihad: I needed backup. Support without judgment. People who hadn’t—and wouldn’t—give up on me. I needed a family.

The truth is, I've been learning a lot about myself lately, and at this point, I don't feel like any of the labels really fit me.

I still miss him so much, dude,” he says, his voice breaking. “It’s been almost a year and I still just can’t—I’m sorry, man, you don’t wanna hear all this.” “Nah, it’s cool.” Now Jus’s eyes are moist. “I understand, man. I really do.” “He’s never gonna visit me at college or be my best man, you know?”... "He was my first real friend. I thought we’d grow old together and shit, you know?

Frankly, I’m not real sure what to feel. Never thought I’d be in this kind of situation. There was this kid, Shemar Carson… a black dude, my age, shot and killed in Nevada by this white cop back in June.

I’m working hard to choose the moral high road like you would, but it’ll take more than that, won’t it? Where’d you get the courage to keep climbing in the face of stuff like this? Because I know you got it from both sides.

Dude had all these obstacles he couldn’t seem to get past no matter how hard he tried, and it was almost as though falling into the life of crime everybody expected from him was (sorta) unavoidable? I know it probably sounds crazy to an upstanding young gentleman such as yourself, but for real: based on the systems in place—the “institutions of oppression,” as my former mentor, Martel, would say—homie’s situation and how he ended up kinda seemed like destiny.

Hänsel said to Grethel, “We shall soon find the way,” but they did not find it. They walked the whole night and all the next day too from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the forest . . . —“Hänsel and Grethel,” translated by Margaret Raine Hunt

Kill ’em with kindness. My point is the world is full of guys like Jared and that employee, and most of them will never change. So it’s up to you fellas to push through it. Probably best not to talk with your fists in the future…” He nudged Manny. “But at least you have an idea of what you’re up against. Try not to let it stop you from doing your best, all right?

to “suffer some consequences for once,” leaving her here all vulnerable doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. So he picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder. Melo responds in her usual delicate fashion: she screams and beats him on the back with her fists. Justyce struggles to get the back door open and is lowering her into the car when he hears the WHOOOOP of a short siren and sees the blue lights. In the few seconds it takes the police car to screech to a stop behind him, Justyce settles Melo into the backseat. Now she’s gone catatonic.

That idiot ‘pundit’ would rather believe you and Manny were thugs than believe a twenty-year veteran cop made a snap judgment based on skin color. He identifies with the cop. If the cop is capable of murder, it means he’s capable of the same. He can’t accept that.” “Well,

how pointless it is to have access to basically everything when you’re a person who’s satisfied by nothing.

That was the reason your brother requested a Msingi when he and I were around your age.” At the sound of that magic word, Shuri’s ears perk up. And seeing who’s in front of her reignites her excitement. Cautiously. “Is this your way of telling me that you are going to be my Msingi, Nakia?” Shuri’s favorite Dora bows. “At your service, Your Majesty,” she says. “Now, when do we depart?

Girls.

And women! Women were originally excluded, but now things are more equal for them too. SJ: [Snorts.] Still not equal enough.

It’s simple: women still aren’t treated as men’s equals. Especially by men. Jared: [Rolls eyes.]

(what is it with girls and purses the size of duffel bags?).

Auto-buy YA authors for me include Marie Marquardt, Rachael Stewart Allen, Lauren Morrill, Aisha Saeed, Nic Stone, Malinda Lo, A. S. King, Kristin Cashore, and Sabaa Tahir. I also love mysteries, so Karen McManus and Kara Thomas dominate my “to be read” pile. But the book/author that inspired me to write was The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. That book is so carefully, beautifully, and intricately constructed, it knocked me over. I finished it, and immediately flipped back to the first page to read again, and thought, “I want to learn to do something even half as captivating as this someday!

Batter

really black to me. Underneath, where it matters, we both bleed red, you see? So put away that race card; it ain’t 1962. There’s no more segregation…isn’t that enough for you?

To think Mr. Julian has all that authority and still gets disrespected? Hearing it made me realize I still had hope that once I really achieve some things, I won’t have to deal with racist BS anymore. That’s obviously not the case, though, is it?

Hazel didn’t like it, but she also didn’t object. So well-adjusted to . . . adjusting was Hazel that she always complied without a hint of resistance.

You can’t change how other people think and act, but you’re in full control of you. When it comes down to it, the only question that matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be?” ― Nic Stone, Dear Martin

You ever consider that maybe you not supposed to 'fit'? People who make history rarely do.” ― Nic Stone, Dear Martin

every room you step into shifts the moment you enter it. I believe that whether it shifts positively or negatively is wholly up to you. You get to decide what you bring into the spaces where you set your feet.

When you spend your whole life being 'accepted' by white people, it's easy to ignore history and hard to face stuff that's still problematic, you feel me?

...before you say something 'isn't fair,' you should consider your starting point versus someone else's.

The girl in red—Garnet, she was called—takes in Hazel and Gray’s disheveled appearance. And she scrunches her nose. “Jesus.” Hazel clears her throat. “Sorry to interrupt your—” “Party’s downstairs. The door’s at the end of the hall.” And she steps out of the house and walks around them. “Don’t let the Grande Dame see you, though. Y’all are mad underdressed.” Her shoes click down the steps.

But for now, they’re just two kids who got lost in the woods. He strips down and jumps into the river.

people need the craziness in the world to make some sort of sense to them. That idiot ‘pundit’ would rather believe you and Manny were thugs than believe a twenty-year veteran cop made a snap judgment based on skin color. He identifies with the cop. If the cop is capable of murder, it means he’s capable of the same. He can’t accept that.

where I come from, resistance is existence, homie. Every day I woke up in my hood coulda been my last. You wanna survive? Get wit some niggas who won’t turn on you, and y’all do whatever it takes to stay at the top, you feel me?

His voice made Hazel think of a square of butter gliding across the top of a warm biscuit. Too perfect. And then his strange eyes trekked over the hills and valleys of Hazel’s terrain.

But the thing about people who are perceived to be unexceptional is that they are frequently underestimated. Gray’s greatest strength is his grayness—that uncanny ability to be nothing special, to fade into the background, blend into the landscape.

And when Gray recognized his stepfather’s face in profile, he’d almost leaped up from the table.

There’s a rough road ahead for Hazel and Gray, Gray knows. But for now, they’re just two kids who got lost in the woods.

what he did. Staying focused didn’t give Quan any control at all.

Kobiety pytają: po co była nam wojna? Po co ginęli nasi synowie? I odpowiadają: po nic, po strach, tułaczkę i krew, po życie w barakach. A przed wojną był dom, w każdym domu - pełna zamrażarka. Teraz puste garnki. Za puste garnki ginęli.

It’s like I’m trying to climb a mountain, but I’ve got one fool trying to shove me down so I won’t be on his level, and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave. Jared and Trey are only two people, but after today, I know that when I head to Yale next fall (because I AM going there), I’m gonna be paranoid about people looking at me and wondering if I’m qualified to be there. How do I work against this, Martin? Getting real with you, I feel a little defeated. Knowing there are people who don’t want me to succeed is depressing. Especially coming from two directions. I’m working hard to choose the moral high road like you would, but it’ll take more than that, won’t it? Where’d you get the courage to keep climbing in the face of stuff like this? Because I know you got it from both sides.

Jared: Whatever. All I know is that no matter what college I end up at, when I see a minority, I'm gonna wonder if they're qualified to be there. Everyone: [...] Justyce: Damn, it's like that, Jared? Jared: I mean... wait, that didn't come out right-- SJ: And there you have it, folks.

From where he’s standing across the street, Justyce can see her: Melo Taylor, ex-girlfriend, slumped over beside her Benz on the damp concrete of the FarmFresh parking lot.

(what is it with girls and purses the size of duffel bags?)

But as they pull away from DamnYankees it hits him: he’s pretty sure G’ma didn’t pay the bill.