Top 80 Sharon M. Draper Quotes (2024 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. “What’s Mr. Dimming’s first name?” “Wallace!” We all cracked up at that.”

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

17. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

19. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

22. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

25. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

27. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

29. “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

30. “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

31. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

36. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

40. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— 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. “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

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper

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

— Sharon M. Draper