"Reading isn't escape, it's facing reality."
Walter Dean Myers suggests that reading is not about escaping from our realities, but rather confronting them head-on. Through literature, we gain insights into different worlds, cultures, and experiences, often encountering challenges similar to or distinct from those in our own lives. Reading allows us to better understand ourselves, empathize with others, and grapple with complex issues, thereby making us more knowledgeable, sensitive, and resilient as we face the realities of life.
"Always remember: You are a reader, you are a writer, and you have the power to change the world."
This quote emphasizes that as both readers and writers, individuals possess the unique ability to influence the world. As readers, we gain knowledge, perspectives, and empathy from the stories we consume; these insights can guide our actions in real life. As writers, we have the power to create narratives that reflect our experiences, inspire others, challenge stereotypes, and shape cultural discourse. By combining these two roles, we can effectively harness the potential to make a positive impact on society and drive change.
"You can't separate the personal from the political when you're poor."
This quote suggests that for individuals living in poverty, their personal lives and experiences are deeply intertwined with politics. The economic and social policies that govern a society have direct, tangible impacts on the daily lives of those who are struggling financially, often limiting opportunities and exacerbating challenges. In this perspective, the political arena is not just about abstract debates or ideologies but about the very survival and well-being of the disadvantaged. Thus, it becomes essential to address both personal struggles and systemic issues in order to improve the lives of those affected by poverty.
"Books are my friends, my comfort, my teachers."
This quote by Walter Dean Myers highlights the profound impact books can have on individuals. Books serve as companions, providing emotional support and solace during difficult times. They also function as a source of knowledge and education, acting as instructors that impart wisdom, insights, and skills. Essentially, in the words of Myers, books are friends that offer comfort, guidance, and enlightenment throughout our lives.
"I write for the kid I was, the one who couldn't find the books he wanted to read."
Walter Dean Myers wrote with the intention of providing literature that resonated with his younger self, who struggled to find relatable characters and stories in mainstream books. Essentially, he aimed to create a rich literary space for underrepresented youth, allowing them to see themselves and their experiences mirrored on the pages of a book.
I joined the army on my seventeenth birthday, full of the romance of war after having read a lot of World War I British poetry and having seen a lot of post-World War II films. I thought the romantic presentations of war influenced my joining and my presentation of war to my younger siblings.
- Walter Dean Myers
One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards, had a negative effect on the viewing public. The military in Iraq specifically banned the photographing of wounded soldiers and coffins, thus sanitizing this terrible and bloody conflict.
- Walter Dean Myers
What I found fascinating was just how quickly the best of the young Negro League players were drafted into the major leagues once Branch Rickey broke the color line by hiring Jackie Robinson. It was clear that all of the major league owners already knew the talents of the black ballplayers that they had refused to let into their league.
- Walter Dean Myers
To fight for one's country, to offer one's very life to promote the well being of the United States, is truly a noble undertaking. But so is the vigilance of the citizen who carefully examines our leaders to see if political problems are being solved by wars simply because this seems to be the easiest solution.
- Walter Dean Myers
I keep threatening to keep a formal journal, but whenever I start one it instantly becomes an exercise in self-consciousness. Instead of a journal I manage to have dozens of notebooks with bits and pieces of stories, poems, and notes. Almost every thing I do has its beginning in a notebook of some sort, usually written on a bus or train.
- Walter Dean Myers
I began going to juvenile prisons. And some of these kids face some very, very tough lives. How do they handle these lives? Do they even know that if their life is bad, that they're still OK? Do they know that? Do they know that someone is thinking the same way that they're thinking?
- Walter Dean Myers
I think that what we need to do is say, 'Reading is going to really affect your life.' You take a black man who doesn't have a job, but you say to him, 'Look, you can make a difference in your child's life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.' That's what I would like to do.
- Walter Dean Myers
As a young man, I saw families prosper without reading because there were always sufficient opportunities for willing workers who could follow simple instructions. This is no longer the case. Children who don't read are, in the main, destined for lesser lives. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to change this.
- Walter Dean Myers
I was raised in Harlem. I never found a book that took place in Harlem. I never had a church like mine in a book. I never had people like the people I knew. People who could not find their lives in books and celebrated felt bad about themselves. I needed to write to include the lives of these young people.
- Walter Dean Myers
I was a good student, but a speech impediment was causing problems. One of my teachers decided that I couldn't pronounce certain words at all. She thought that if I wrote something, I would use words I could pronounce. I began writing little poems. I began to write short stories, too.
- Walter Dean Myers
There was a time I was no longer going to be black. I was going to be an 'intellectual.' When I was first looking around for colleges, thinking of colleges I couldn't afford to go to, I was thinking of being a philosopher. I began to understand then that much of my feelings about race were negative.
- Walter Dean Myers
I had seen the ballet of 'Swan Lake' as a child but it was as an adult, when I saw a production featuring Erik Bruhn, that I first noticed how significant a part the ever-present threat of violence played. This juxtaposition of great beauty and grace with a backdrop of pure evil stayed with me for years.
- Walter Dean Myers
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