“Good-byes hurt the most when the other person’s already gone.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“To every kid in Georgetown and in all “the Gardens” of the world: your voices matter, your dreams matter, your lives matter. Be roses that grow in the concrete.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“People like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“I’ve seen it happen over and over again: a black person gets killed just for being black, and all hell breaks loose. I’ve Tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there. I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down. Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“You can destroy wood and brick, but you can’t destroy a movement.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“I can’t change where I come from or what I’ve been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“I think it’ll change one day. How? I don’t know. When? I definitely don’t know. Why? Because there will always be someone ready to fight. Maybe it’s my turn. People realizing and shouting and marching and demanding. They’re not forgetting. I think that’s the most important part.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 444)
“Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug. He lived, but not nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I’ll remember how he died. Fairy tale? No. But I’m not giving up on a better ending. It would be easy to quit if it was just about me, Khalil, that night, and that cop. It’s about way more than that though. It’s about Seven. Sekani. Kenya. DeVante. It’s also about Oscar. Aiyana. Trayvon. Rekia. Michael. Eric. Tamir. John. Ezell. Sandra. Freddie. Alton. Philando. It’s even about that little boy in 1955 who nobody recognized at first—Emmett. The messed up part? There are so many more.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 442)
“‘That’s why people are speaking out, huh? Because it won’t change if we don’t say something.’ ‘Exactly. We can’t be silent.’ ‘So I can’t be silent.’ Daddy stills. He looks at me. I see the fight in his eyes. I matter more to him than a movement. I’m his baby, and I’ll always be his baby, and if being silent means I’m safe, he’s all for it. This is bigger than me and Khalil though. This is about Us, with a capital U; everybody who looks like us, feels like us, and is experiencing this pain with us despite not knowing me or Khalil. My silence isn’t helping Us. Daddy fixes his gaze on the road again. He nods. ‘Yeah. Can’t be silent.'”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 171)
“Funerals aren’t for dead people. They’re for the living. I doubt Khalil cares what songs are sung or what the preacher says about him. He’s in a casket. Nothing can change that.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 122)
“what i miss most is how you loved me. but what i didn’t know was how you loved me had so much to do with the person i was. it was a reflection of everything i gave to you. coming back to me. how did i not see that. how. did i sit here soaking in the idea that no one else would love me that way. when it was i that taught you. when it was i that showed you how to fill. the way i needed to be filled. how cruel i was to myself. giving you credit for warmth simply because you had felt it. thinking it was you who gave me strength. wit. beauty. simply because you recognized it. as if i was already not these things before i met you. as if i did not remain all these once you left.”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 138)
“when you are broken
and he has left you
do not question
whether you were
enough
the problem was
you were so enough
he was not able to carry it”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 103)
“you mustn’t have to
make them want you
they must want you themselves”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 96)
“love will come
and when love comes
love will hold you
love will call your name
and you will melt
sometimes though
love will hurt you but
love will never mean to
love will play no games
cause love knows life
has been hard enough already”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 60)
“i do not want to have you
to fill the empty parts of me
i want to be full on my own
i want to be so complete
i could light a whole city
and then
i want to have you
cause the two of us combined
could set it on fire”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 59)
“he placed his hands
on my mind
before reaching
for my waist
my hips
or my lips
he didn’t call me
beautiful first
he called me
exquisite”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 54)
“the thing about having
an alcoholic parent
is an alcoholic parent
does not exist
simply
an alcoholic
who could not stay sober
long enough to raise their kids”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 39)
“you tell me to quiet down cause
my opinions make me less beautiful
but i was not made with a fire in my belly
so i could be put out
i was not made with a lightness on my tongue
so i could be easy to swallow
i was made heavy
half blade and half silk
difficult to forget and not easy
for the mind to follow”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 30)