They hit you with a knife, you find a gun

Potential is universal, opportunity is not.

The importance of education plays a huge role.

The importance of high expectations plays a big role.

Kids need to think that you care before they care what you think.

The work is not simply about an occupation .. but why you are here.

We're not products of our environments, we're products of our expectations.

Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount.

But really, where leadership is born and where leadership is really bred is.

The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves.

I just want to do as much as I can while I can, because none of us are promised anything.

The young men in our city are not problems to be solved. They are opportunities to be unleashed.

My mother is extraordinary; she's a superwoman, like so many other single mothers who are out there.

The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.

I just want to make sure that public service doesn't have to be an occupation, but it needs to be a way of life.

I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I responded, "I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.

When it is time for you to leave this school, leave your job, or even leave this earth, you make sure you have worked hard to make sure it mattered you were even here.

Life's impermanence, I realized, is what makes every single day so precious. It's what shapes our time here. It's what makes it so important than not a single moment be wasted.

I began at some point to understand the whole idea of accountability and responsibility and leadership, and I think that was something that really birthed something in me, where I knew I wanted to be part of a larger equation in our society.

The common bond of humanity and decency that we share is stronger than any conflict, any adversity. Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount. Knowing when to fight and when to seek peace is wisdom. Ubuntu was right.

Do you think that we're products of our environments? I think so, or maybe products of our expectations. Others' expectations of us or our expectations. I mean others' expectations that you take on as your own. I realize how difficult it is to seperate the two. The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves.

Share This Page