They think old people are lame. But they're not. They're awesome, & I know exactly why I think so. It's because they've lived entire lifetimes. Loved. Laughed. Surrendered. Stumbled. Weathered, beaten, still they don't crumble, not even as they inch toward death.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the value of the elderly, depicting their experiences as rich and meaningful.
Ellen Hopkins highlights the often overlooked strength and wisdom found in the elderly. Rather than being seen as 'lame', older individuals possess a wealth of life experiences that have shaped them, allowing them to endure hardships and continue to thrive. Their journeys through love, laughter, and adversity make them remarkable, especially as they approach the end of life.
In practice
In a speech about respecting our elders, I would use this quote to reinforce the importance of valuing their experiences.
Not Exactly True That skin hate is dead. There will never be color blindness in a culture of fear. But when you live afraid of your neighbor, the monster you should most walk in terror of thrives. It starts as a little thing, small enough to burrow into your pores, take up excruciating residence in the dark recesses of your brain. Its name is paranoia, and it spreads like an oil spill, there in the shadows, chokes your humanity. Threatens your soul.
I need to capture my sprite with trembling hands. Except I could crush her. Wonder how many small things of beauty - flowers, seashells, dragonflies - have met such a demise. Wonder how much fragile love has collapsed beneath the weight of confession.
I haven't cried since Mom died. I mean, after something like that, what's left to cry about, right? But I let myself cry now. Loss is loss. Doesn't take death to create it. (266)
...life is all about chances. You might be safer not taking any. But playing it totally safe means you're only existing. Not living. I want to live.
One Time, One Day between Davie and Roberta , I asked my mom why she persisted, kept on having baby after baby, She looked at me, at a spot between my eyes, blinking like I had suddenly fallen crazy. She paused before answering as if to confide would legitimize my fears. She drew a deep breath, leaned against the chair. I touched her hand and I thought she might cry. Instead she put baby Davie in my arms Pattyn, she said, it's a woman's role. I decided if it was my role, I'd rather disappear.
When I was little, my friends would gush over wedding gowns and honeymoons. But I saw too many people flush decades together down the toilet over money or kids or meaningless flings. My own parents chose to stay married, which I think is rather funny, since they show about as much affection for each other as pit bulls in a ring. Tying the knot means slipping a noose around love and choking it to death.
Tell the truth, but tell it slant.
No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.
Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.
Without using the word, everyone started forgiving each other again. Just like that, from the no of all nothingness: you have a big tense mess and out of it comes some joy. It must be magic.
How few things can a man measure with the tape of his understanding ; How many greater things might he be seeing in the meanwhile.
This age thinks better of a gilded fool Than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school.
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