“Caring about someone as much as you care about yourself, and the critical eye that comes with it, are two strands that cannot be separated. Both engender a passion that makes the mother-daughter relationship perilous—and precious.”
“Be careful of your thoughts, For your thoughts become your words; Be careful of your words, For your words become your deeds; Be careful of your deeds, For your deeds become your habits; Be careful of your habits, For your habits become your character; Be careful of your character, For your character becomes your destiny.”
“Where … do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.”
“We must never cease our exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to return to the place where we first began and to truly know that place for the first time.”
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are just rearranging their prejudices.”
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
“I cannot condone the systematic destruction of the hope and spirit of people who have suffered hardship and pain to reach our shores. They are people who believe that they have been or are at risk of being persecuted in their own country.”
“Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it.”
