Top 40 Laila Ibrahim Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “An ugly truth is preferable to a beautiful lie.”

— Laila Ibrahim

2. “The joy of a simple life is the greatest satisfaction.”

— Laila Ibrahim

3. “You cannot change that man, but you can learn the truth about the world and decide what kind of person you want to be.”

— Laila Ibrahim

4. “Cholera was a common companion of war – and far more fatal than metal blades or bullets.”

— Laila Ibrahim

5. “Lisbeth had so hoped to be a target of Cupid’s arrow, but it seemed that was not to be.”

— Laila Ibrahim

6. “We do not know our fate. This may be a forever goodbye; it may only be for years. My love for you will never waver, however long or however far.”

— Laila Ibrahim

7. “A wife obeys her husband, yes,” Ahma instructed. “But a wise woman earns her own money and saves for the emergencies that a husband cannot see coming.”

— Laila Ibrahim

8. “Mama said, “Ain’t no pain as awful as the one that come from bein’ away from your own chil’.”

— Laila Ibrahim

9. “But I know a good man make life more sweet. Someone to hold you and love you, someone to share your dreams with, someone kind and thoughtful. A good man’s a treasure.”

— Laila Ibrahim

10. “I never saw my mother again, but I carried her with me always.”

— Laila Ibrahim

11. “Work hard, be kind, be humble – and you will live a harmonious life.”

— Laila Ibrahim

12. “Lisbeth, it gonna be hard, but you have to find a way to follow your own heart, even if.”

— Laila Ibrahim

13. “It will seem impossible to take the first step. But on the second step, since you already did one, you know you can take another. Then another and another. Before long you will have walked into your new life.”

— Laila Ibrahim

14. “Focus on bearing, and beauty will follow. Your looks will not remain with you for life. But your bearing will go with you to the grave.”

— Laila Ibrahim

15. “Your mother is a precious soul and the earth will be diminished without her – though heaven will be rewarded with another angel.”

— Laila Ibrahim

16. “It will seem impossible to take the first step. But on the second step, since you already did one, you know you can take another.”

— Laila Ibrahim

17. “As she nestled against Mattie’s breast, the baby’s deep-blue eyes gazed intently into Mattie’s dark-caramel irises. Her pink fingers patted and stroked soft brown skin. She grinned up at Mattie, causing milk to dribble out the sides of her mouth. “Silly girl,” Mattie admonished the baby, tickling and teasing her. “You gotta pick: eatin’ or smilin’.”

— Laila Ibrahim

18. “We don’ get to pick how big our good gets to be, but each of us picks if we gonna do some good right where we are.”

— Laila Ibrahim

19. “Each of these kind and hardworking children came to me in a different way, but they are all mine.”

— Laila Ibrahim

20. “The young woman asked, “Mattie, do you think I have ruined my chance at the best marriage on the river?” “Lisbeth, I can’ say much ’bout marriage. But I know a good man make life more sweet. Someone to hold you and love you, someone to share your dreams with, someone kind and thoughtful. A good man’s a treasure.”

— Laila Ibrahim

21. “APRIL 14, 1837.”

— Laila Ibrahim

22. “Once she opened the door, her life would forever be divided into before and after.”

— Laila Ibrahim

23. “It’s never foolish to have a dream. Even if it never comes to be. It can give you the hope you need to keep going.”

— Laila Ibrahim

24. “As far as I concerned, God loves ever’body so God forgives ever’body so ever’body gonna get to heaven.”

— Laila Ibrahim

25. “She pinched the inside of her left arm hard, using the sudden pain to chase away her despair, a trick she’d used many times before to hide her feelings from the world.”

— Laila Ibrahim

26. “May I come with you to Ohio? As your wife? I need a husband. You are not engaged. We both enjoy Shakespeare.”

— Laila Ibrahim

27. “Then she said the prayer that started all her midwifing: “Dear Lord, please guide me in gettin’ this baby born and savin’ this precious woman’s life.”

— Laila Ibrahim

28. “She was hurt, far worse than I will ever be. And you try to convince me, and yourself, that she would be flattered by such an experience!” Lisbeth said with contempt. “Well, I do not believe you, Mother! She was not flattered. She was in pain. That is why I will be moving to Ohio, a free state, where I will not have to be a part of the evil of slavery.”

— Laila Ibrahim

29. “Mattie was never truly mine. That knowledge must have filled me as quickly and surely as the milk from her breasts.”

— Laila Ibrahim

30. “Two days later the housekeeper.”

— Laila Ibrahim

31. “Getting you to lose your hope the biggest weapon they gots. So our best weapon is to hold on to hope, however we can.”

— Laila Ibrahim

32. “They had believed they would marry progressive thinkers in Guangzhou – businessmen or scholars – who would be proud to have educated wives with natural feet.”

— Laila Ibrahim

33. “I asked my husband to teach my daughters to read and write so we would know one another should we be parted.”

— Laila Ibrahim

34. “Compassion is nothing to be ashamed of.”

— Laila Ibrahim

35. “Then Mattie journeyed away from her home toward freedom and her family, leaving behind the bones of generations of her ancestors and their captors.”

— Laila Ibrahim

36. “Every time I see the moon, I shall send you a blessing, knowing the same moon will soon shine my blessing down upon you.”

— Laila Ibrahim

37. “Young ladies may speak to young men about the weather, meals, clothing, and their relatives. Avoid conversation concerning politics, finance, or religion. Though a gentleman may bring up such topics, and a lady must follow where a gentleman leads, a skilled lady will return the conversation to an appropriate topic.”

— Laila Ibrahim

38. “Mattie scoffed, “That sound like a foolish rule to me. How ya gonna know if you like being with a man if ya can’ laugh together?”

— Laila Ibrahim

39. “Those two women bore precious children that I had the honor of raising. Thank you.”

— Laila Ibrahim

40. “This is as true a story as has ever been told: the story of my love for Mattie, and, I suppose, her love for me in return.”

— Laila Ibrahim

41. “You a sower today, baby. You cast seeds of knowledge to those chil’ren. You ain’t gonna know how or where or if they gonna blossom, but you did God’s work today – you sowed some seeds.”

— Laila Ibrahim

42. “Education was a luxury not prioritized in a time of war and famine.”

— Laila Ibrahim

43. “This country was founded with the understanding that we shall be allowed to hold slaves. It was a condition of the formation. That shall not change regardless of the rhetoric coming from the North.”

— Laila Ibrahim

44. “Do not allow a gentleman to overhear you speaking about courtship, literature, or politics.”

— Laila Ibrahim

45. “You don’ have to know how or why faith work – you jus’ got to make sure you find some when you feelin’ lost.”

— Laila Ibrahim

46. “Mattie’s torso with a heavy cloth.”

— Laila Ibrahim

47. “You eat from trees you did not plant and are obliged to plant trees you will not eat from.”

— Laila Ibrahim

48. “It was strange how one choice could change the course of your entire life.”

— Laila Ibrahim