The Litt Librarian > The Litt Librarian's Quotes

“Just—promise me girls you won't devalue yourselves for anyone. And I mean anyone. You can't. You have to really be kind to yourself and look out for yourself because the world can be cold and cruel. Don't feel bad, ever, about putting yourself first.”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

“I would secretly give anything to be thin, while outwardly and openly rebelling against the idea that anyone should have to.”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

“They say you can’t really be with someone until you can love yourself, but I’m learning that it can also sometimes take the admiration and support of someone else to help you get there. I was already on the path to seeing my own self-worth, but Brian took my hand and made the route less lonely.”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

“They knew two languages and there I was thinking I was hot shit because I knew what an Oxford comma was. Hey, internalized racism. How you doing?”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

“Actually…someday I’m hoping to write a book about a girl who looks like me.” What I mean is a book specifically about a fat Puerto Rican girl with glasses. I’ve never once read a story about one, and something about that has always made me feel devastatingly alone.”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

“Usually," Xiala said carefully, "when someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

“A man with a destiny is a man who fears nothing,” he whispered to himself.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

“I am the only storm that matters now, and there is no shelter from what I bring.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun

“White folks still have us bound. The chains that shackled us were beyond physical.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“This is the gift of Harlem—the dress, the music, the language. It isn’t possible to live here and not begin to breathe and bleed this place.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“Will glances around the table. “I think everyone knows I withdrew from the Socialist Party to support Wilson, and it was with the vote of colored men who followed me that he won.” There is a sigh in his tone when he continues, “But his betrayal…he says he isn’t a racist, but he awakened every racist in this country. Supporting him was the greatest political mistake I’ve made.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“Who is the author of such brilliance? First, I notice the title: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Then, the name of the poet: Langston”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I’ve known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“I’m so grateful to her for encouraging me to read. The characters inside books became my friends. I loved every story, even the tragic ones. Because even in tragedy, the words can make a pitiable life beyond beautiful.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“We laugh, but the merriment stops when Will says, “Blackface is not gone! If the words are written by a white man, then it doesn’t matter if it’s a colored man on that stage or a white man in blackface. The words are still written by men who’ve never lived a moment without privilege, telling stories of men who cannot even purchase access to privilege.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody