Elizabeth Street Quotes

“With her ten-year-old nephew as a guide, she tried to think of it as an adventure. And then came the more difficult part-she had to try to convince herself that she liked adventures.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“This America of yours, does it always build what you dream?”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“I quickly learned that research leads to more research.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“tragedies knitted themselves into your soul when there was a connection—no matter how tenuous.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“paralyzing”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Language is not so important in this country. If you want to understand one another, you do.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Maya Angelou who said, “It is agony to keep a story buried inside you.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“But he had handled enough divorces to understand that in rough circumstances companions sometimes fared better than lovers. Rocco”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Could he expect the same system that didn’t value their lives to believe their testimony? DeCegli”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“he who has money and friends fucks justice in the ass.” Giovanna”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“basanogol — basil (Italian-American slang) basta”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“There wasn’t a hamburger or hot dog in sight at the family picnic. Trays of lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, swordfish, clams on the half shell, steamed mussels, calamari salads, veal rollatini, stuffed artichokes, and more covered the redwood picnic tables. The tuna casserole and noodle salad brought by the few cousins who had married non-Italians were politely put on a separate picnic table and went untouched.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“caduto in terra—piece of heaven fallen to earth. They”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“She opened the door and shooed the children out, leaving Angelina behind.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“of Scylla. He relished the opportunity to recount the chilling”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“As you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“She also said to tell you that when people love each other, they always find each other in the end.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Why break the bottle when you can skim off the cream?”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Italians entering Ellis Island are considered to be of two races. A race from the north and a race from the south. The northerners are classified ‘white’ and the southerners ‘in-betweeners.’ Of course, in Italy, the northerners simply call you peasants or Africans.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Chi ha denaro ed amicizia va nel culo della giustizia”—“he who has money and friends fucks justice in the ass.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Tra una pietra ed un posto duro’—‘Between a rock and a hard place.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“CROTON RESERVOIR DAILY WAGE: Common laborer, white $1.30–$1.50 Common laborer, colored $1.25–$1.40 Common laborer, Italian $1.15–$1.25”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“It was here that Giovanna and Nunzio grew like the vines on the village Indian fig trees, intertwined in such a way that it was impossible to know where one branch started and where the other ended. Giovanna did not know life without Nunzio. Her father and his mother were brother and sister.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, 1985 “We lived at 202 Elizabeth Street.” My grandmother looked away from the video camera to my head.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Lines were a new experience for the Italians, but they caught on quickly to this American phenomenon.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“out fishing he imagined himself”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Yet, like everything in their lives, there were contradictions. He was the idealist with little faith, and she was the pragmatist who believed in miracles. Nunzio dreamt and Giovanna prayed.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“wailing”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“When Angelina was returned, she was embarrassed to confess and admit that she hadn’t trusted her. “Why don’t you go see her, Giovanna?” suggested Teresa softly. “I want to go for a walk. Can you finish”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street

“Giovanna thought about how tragedies knitted themselves into your soul when there was a connection—no matter how tenuous. If you walked down a street where a murder had occurred, or studied a country where there was a famine, all of a sudden the horror became your own.”
― Laurie Fabiano, Elizabeth Street