"Driving home, she reflected aloud on how society generally reegards the homeless as lazy and foolish, and maybe some were. But she felt there was so much more below the surface image: dysfunction and addiction, yes. But also gifts--like love, faith, and wisdom--that lay hidden like pearls waiting only to be discovered, polished, and set." (pg. 85)
"So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me: If you is fishin for a friend you just gon' catch and release, then I ain't got no desire to be your friend...But if you is lookin for a real friend, then I'll be one. Forever." (pg. 107)
"Ashamed, I realized again how deep grew the roots of my own prejudice, of my arrogant snap judgments of the poor." (pg. 138)
"Ever man should have the courage to stand up and face the enemy...'cause ever person that looks like a enemy on the outside ain't necessarily one on the indside. We all has more in common than we think. You stood up with courage and faced me when I was dangerous, and it changed my life. You loved me for who I was on the inside, the person God meant for me to be, the one that had just gotten lost for a while on some ugly roads in life." (pg. 193)
"I used to spend a lotta time worryin that I was different from other people, even from other homeless folks. Then, after I met Miss Debbie and Mr. Ron, I worried that I was so different from them that we wadn't ever gon' have to kind a future. But I found out everybody's different--the same kind of different as me...The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless--just workin our way toward home." (pg. 235)
"So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me: If you is fishin for a friend you just gon' catch and release, then I ain't got no desire to be your friend...But if you is lookin for a real friend, then I'll be one. Forever." (pg. 107)
"Ashamed, I realized again how deep grew the roots of my own prejudice, of my arrogant snap judgments of the poor." (pg. 138)
"Ever man should have the courage to stand up and face the enemy...'cause ever person that looks like a enemy on the outside ain't necessarily one on the indside. We all has more in common than we think. You stood up with courage and faced me when I was dangerous, and it changed my life. You loved me for who I was on the inside, the person God meant for me to be, the one that had just gotten lost for a while on some ugly roads in life." (pg. 193)
"I used to spend a lotta time worryin that I was different from other people, even from other homeless folks. Then, after I met Miss Debbie and Mr. Ron, I worried that I was so different from them that we wadn't ever gon' have to kind a future. But I found out everybody's different--the same kind of different as me...The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless--just workin our way toward home." (pg. 235)