Top 80 Sharon M. Draper Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Thoughts need words. Words need a voice.”

— Sharon M. Draper

2. “What’s right isn’t always popular, and whats popular isn’t always right.”

— Sharon M. Draper

3. “It’s like I live in a cage with no door and no key. And I have no way to tell someone how to get me out.”

— Sharon M. Draper

4. “She talked to me like I was just like any other student, not a kid in a wheelchair.”

— Sharon M. Draper

5. “I’m always amazed at how adults assume I can’t hear. They talk about me as if I’m invisible, figuring I’m too retarded to understand their conversation. I learn quite a bit this way.”

— Sharon M. Draper

6. “By the way, there is nothing cute about a pink wheelchair. Pink doesn’t change a thing.”

— Sharon M. Draper

7. “I learned to dream through reading, learned to create dreams through writing, and learned to develop dreamers through teaching. I shall always be a dreamer.”

— Sharon M. Draper

8. “Do not let anyone stop you from succeding.”

— Sharon M. Draper

9. “Without the local library in my neighborhood, I don’t think I would have grown up to be a writer or a teacher.”

— Sharon M. Draper

10. “But I’ll always love you, and I’ll always miss you and I’ll never forget that It’s okay to put dragons in the jungle and tears on a tiger.”

— Sharon M. Draper

11. “Go ahead and cry, Andy. Don’t be afraid of those tears. Sometimes they help to wash the soul clean.”

— Sharon M. Draper

12. “Do you know what courage is? I guess you don’t. Do you know that the courage it took at that moment – to actually blow yourself away – was more than enough courage to keep on living?”

— Sharon M. Draper

13. “It can connect us to memories. It can influence our mood and our responses to problems we might face.”

— Sharon M. Draper

14. “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me round, Turn me round, turn me round. Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me round. Gonna keep on walkin’, keep on talkin’ Marching up to freedom land.”

— Sharon M. Draper

15. “Mama once told Gary to put his anger in a pot and let it simmer.”

— Sharon M. Draper

16. “What’s Mr. Dimming’s first name?” “Wallace!” We all cracked up at that.”

— Sharon M. Draper

17. “Earthquake report: Walls are tumbling everywhere!”

— Sharon M. Draper

18. “We were no longer a whole, but three separate pieces. A mom. A dad. A kid sliced in half. Actually, that made us four pieces – ’cause I have to be two people: Mom’s Izzy and Dad’s Isabella.”

— Sharon M. Draper

19. “Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes-each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.”

— Sharon M. Draper

20. “Freedom is a delicate flower, like a pretty leaf in the air: It’s hard to catch and may not be what you thought when you get it, she observed quietly.- Polly from Copper Sun.”

— Sharon M. Draper

21. “Chocolate family meets vanilla family in the artificial reality that is a mall. Caramel daughter caught helplessly between the two.”

— Sharon M. Draper

22. “My mind is cloudy. My heart is bloody, and my soul is on ice.”

— Sharon M. Draper

23. “I believe in me. And my family does. And Mrs. V. It’s the rest of the world I’m not so sure of.”

— Sharon M. Draper

24. “The morning started out like crystal, but the day has turned to broken glass.”

— Sharon M. Draper

25. “What your body looks like has nothing to do with how well your brain works!”

— Sharon M. Draper

26. “Never be afraid to be honest and stand up for what is right, Stella,” he said pointedly. “Just remember to balance your courage with wisdom.”

— Sharon M. Draper

27. “I don’t think they get paid very much, because they never stay very long. But they should get a million dollars. What they do is really hard, and I don’t think most folks get that. It.”

— Sharon M. Draper

28. “You know, children, quilts, like stories, are part of our heritage, part of our culture. Some quilts even tell stories. Our past is a patchwork of memories and tales. You all keep that forever tucked in your pockets, you hear?”

— Sharon M. Draper

29. “Don’t aim for riches, child. Aim for happiness.” -Mrs. Mills.”

— Sharon M. Draper

30. “Delete, delete, delete. No way am I letting their negativity mess me up. I have enough to worry about.”

— Sharon M. Draper

31. “There’s an unseen river of communication that forever flows – dark and powerful. Tonight was about food and laughter, yes. But it was also about navigatin’ that river.” A.”

— Sharon M. Draper

32. “Fifth grade is probably pretty rocky for lots of kids. Homework. Never being quite sure if you’re cool enough. Clothes. Parents. Wanting to play with toys and wanting to be grown up all at the same time. Underarm odor. I guess I have all that, plus about a million different layers of other stuff to deal with. Making people understand what I want. Worrying about what I look like. Fitting in. Will a boy ever like me? Maybe I’m not so different from everyone else after all.”

— Sharon M. Draper

33. “My parents have always blanketed me with conversation.”

— Sharon M. Draper

34. “Down to the 23rd page of double dutch!”

— Sharon M. Draper

35. “Trust me. The older you get, the scarier the world gets to be.”

— Sharon M. Draper

36. “Words fall out of the sky like leaves, girl. Grab a couple and write ’em down.”

— Sharon M. Draper

37. “Let me tell you something, Doctor. There is no way in heaven or hell that we will be sending Melody away to a nursing home!”

— Sharon M. Draper

38. “One series of notes, high and delicate, sang of a sweet moonlight kiss gone sour; another line of music rippled with regret over opportunities forever lost.”

— Sharon M. Draper

39. “Step, fart. Step, fart. Step, fart.”

— Sharon M. Draper

40. “Ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.”

— Sharon M. Draper

41. “Bad writers don’t practice, Stella. It’s the good ones who care enough to try, who worry about getting the words just right.”

— Sharon M. Draper

42. “Teachers must be celebrated for moving civilization from ignorance to enlightenment, from apathy to responsibility.”

— Sharon M. Draper

43. “There is an unseen river of communication that forever flows – dark and powerful.”

— Sharon M. Draper

44. “I hate that word, by the way. Retarded. I.”

— Sharon M. Draper

45. “They make computers for the special eddies?” “It talks? Mine doesn’t do that.” “You don’t need yours to talk!” “It sounds weird.” “So do you.”

— Sharon M. Draper

46. “Earthquake report: This is the big one.”

— Sharon M. Draper

47. “All the salve in the world can’t cure what gets broken in somebody’s soul” -Mama.”

— Sharon M. Draper

48. “Her mother gave her a piece of warm biscuit and a hug before they left. “Stones don’t cry, child. Remember that,” was all she said.”

— Sharon M. Draper

49. “Long as you remember, ain’t nothin’ really gone.”

— Sharon M. Draper

50. “A library filled with thousands of books waiting for a thirsty kid like me to gulp them down.”

— Sharon M. Draper