... bums on the outside, libraries inside.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of knowledge that can be found inside individuals, regardless of their external appearances.
Ray Bradbury's quote 'bums on the outside, libraries inside' suggests that people may often be judged by their outward appearance, but true value and wisdom can be found within. It encourages a deeper understanding of individuals, recognizing that everyone has their own unique experiences and knowledge worth exploring, often hidden beneath a superficial façade.
In practice
In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to highlight that people can offer much more than what meets the eye.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.
I feel like I am walking in some amazing footsteps of writers who have come before me, like S.E. Hinton, Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Paul Curtis, Richard Peck and Kate DiCamillo, who I love.
Schools teach you how to work for money, but don't teach how to make money work for you
Knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end of political education.
I want to start two institutions, one in Madras and one in Calcutta, to carry out my plan; and that plan briefly is to bring the Vedantic ideals into the everyday practical life of the saint or the sinner, of the sage or the ignoramus, of the Brahmin or the Pariah.
A lot of parents today are terrified that something they say to their children might make them 'feel bad.' But, hey, if they've done something wrong, they should feel bad. Kids with a sense of responsibility, not entitlement, who know when to experience gratitude and humility, will be better at navigating the social shoals of college.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.