When the scary subject of race is finally broached, kids want to talk and talk. It's very satisfying.
Ruby BridgesRead
What I do remember about first grade and that year was that it was very lonely. I didn't have any friends, and I wasn't allowed to go to the cafeteria or play on the playground. What bothered me most was the loneliness in school every day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the feelings of isolation and loneliness experienced during a challenging time in childhood.
Ruby Bridges reflects on her first-grade experience as a profound period of loneliness, characterized by the absence of friends and the inability to engage in common school activities. This sentiment highlights the emotional impact of social exclusion during formative years, emphasizing the importance of companionship and acceptance in a child’s development.
Themes
LonelinessFriendshipChildhoodSchoolSocial Exclusion
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of mental health for children, this quote can illustrate the impact of loneliness in schools.
More from Ruby Bridges
All quotes →I felt like there was something I needed to do - speaking to kids and sharing my story with them and helping them understand racism has no place in the minds and hearts of children.
Ruby BridgesRead
Schools should be diverse if we are to get past racial differences.
Ruby BridgesRead
I've seen schools in Detroit where the windows are broken, where there's no heat, and children are sitting with their coats on in class in the middle of a snowstorm. I've also seen schools in California with Olympic-sized swimming pools and cafeterias like five-star restaurants.
Ruby BridgesRead
Throughout my life, my prayers have actively sustained me - held me up, carried me through.
Ruby BridgesRead
My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children.
Ruby BridgesRead
Similar quotes
Girls grow up scarred by caution and enter adulthood eager to shake free of their parents' worst nightmares. They still know to be wary of strangers. What they don't know is whether they have more to fear from their friends.
Nancy GibbsRead
Men and women, they were beautiful and wild, all a little violent under their pleasant ways and only a little tamed.
Margaret MitchellRead
Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife standing behind him -- or so they used to say. It would be interesting to know how many great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
Some feel lonely because they haven't found that perfect 'companion' yet. Sometimes Allah sends everyone else away so you can find that only in Him.
Yasmin MogahedRead
But now his dry and silent grieving for his lost wife must end, for there she stood, the fierce, recalcitrant, and fragile stranger, forever to be won again.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
[Y]ou [man] are fool enough, it seems, to dare to war with [woman=] me, when for your faithful ally you might win me easily.
AristophanesRead