Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir Of The Battle To Integrate Little Rock's Central High Quotes
"Time brings about change, and as time moves forward, our significant life events become a series of snapshots in our minds."
"These days I have little fear of what is to come because I realize it is all ultimately part of a wonderful mystery, unraveling with each day."
"The first round of this battle was never about integration, it was always about access—access to opportunity, to resources, to freedom."
"Until I am welcomed everywhere as an equal simply because I am human, I remain a warrior on a battlefield that I must not leave."
"If one person is denied equality, we are all denied equality."
"Even when the battle is long and the path is steep, a true warrior does not give up."
"With time and love, God solves all our problems."
"We have only survived and triumphed in round one of the bouts that have made and continue to remake America."
"I have achieved so much... And yet, when I go house-hunting, I am often denied the chosen location because to the person selling the house I am just another 'maid,' 'Aunt Jemima,' or second-class citizen, as always."
"God's warriors don't cry, 'cause they trust that he's always by their side."
"We live in a country where the law and the Constitution prevail."
"If nobody takes responsibility for being the first, it will never get done."
"We have to grab everything we can, and most times pay for it with our blood."
"You're a warrior on the battlefield for your Lord."
"I felt a new fountain of hope rise up inside me."
"Maybe you're just exchanging it for a new life."
"Freedom is being able to go with Grandma to the wrestling matches."
"Today is the first time in my life I felt equal to white people."
"You know he’s smart like a fox," Grandma said. "He’s got something in mind, suddenly moving those troops that way."
"To integration with peace and joy and harmony," Mother said, smiling, and took a sip of her lemonade.
"Okay, God, so Grandma is right it’s my turn to carry the banner. Please help me do thy will."
"Look," Mother said, "there’s a price to be paid for freedom; we pay it now or we’re in 'ball and chain' forever."
"God loves you, child; no matter what, he sees you as his precious idea."
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped."
"There seems to be no space for me at Central High. I don’t want integration to be like the merry-go-round. Please, God, make space for me."
"I’m proud of who I am. My color is inconvenient right now, but it won’t always be like this."
"It’s hard being with Little Rock white people. I don’t know if I can do this integration thing forever. It feels like this is something people do for only a little while."
"After three full days inside Central, I know that integration is a much bigger word than I thought."
"I am worried about what’s happening to me. I feel like someone forced me into a roller coaster that spins up and down and all around and won’t stop. Nobody can make it stop but God."
"September 30: 9:30 A.M. Each morning as I arrive, I look for the soldiers. I don’t want to imagine what it would be like without them."
"A girl smiled at me today, another gave me directions, still another boy whispered the page I should turn to in our textbook."
"In order to get through this year you will have to become a soldier. Never let your enemy know what you are feeling."
"I can’t even take pride in reciting. One boy in English class shouted 'Don’t let that nigger go to the blackboard.'"
"President Eisenhower says he will remove the 101st soldiers if Governor Faubus agrees to protect the nine Negro children with federalized Arkansas National Guardsmen."
"I discovered I had infinitely more guts than I had started the school year with."
"I was as frightened by the ineptness of the Arkansas soldiers as by the viciousness of the increased attacks on me."
"My energies were devoted to one goal—planning for my own safety and shielding myself from hurt."
"I will always remember this man. How could I forget his name? I will never know if he only behaved that kindly because he was a great soldier or a good person or both."
"You can never in this lifetime count on another human being to keep you from being lonely. Nobody can provide your spiritual food."
"Anger brings defeat. If you fight back, you have a battle, and you will be the loser."
"Those segregationists are counting on you to fail. Go ahead, hit back, make them happy."
"You hit back every day you get through. You kick them every week you get through."
"Please, God, let me learn how to stop being a warrior. Sometimes I just need to be a girl."
"Dignity is a state of mind, just like freedom. These are both precious gifts from God that no one can take away unless you allow them to."
"I wish I were dead. That was the entry for several days running, in late January. 'God, please let me be dead until the end of the year.'"
"If you don’t get out of here, you’re gonna get us both killed."
"I think only the warrior exists in me now. Melba went away to hide. She was too frightened to stay here."
"I spend equal amounts of time daydreaming about becoming a news reporter and an actress."
"Nobody is steering the ship—nobody’s in charge—not really."
"Had I fallen down those thirty or so stone steps, I would have hurt myself or even been killed."
"I believe the rational ones who would keep the violence in check are being controlled by those who want us out at any cost."
"A man named Thomas is proposing that all of us withdraw from Central and everybody support his voluntary plan for desegregation."
"The only thing a white man ever wants with one of our women is personal favors."
"Sitting and wishing never made man great. The good Lord sends the fishing, but we gotta dig the bait."
"Let's hold hands and pray... Praise you, Lord. I knew you wouldn't forget us."
"If you have to depend on yourself for strength, you will not make it. But if you depend on God's strength, you can do anything."