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Quotes from Habibi — Naomi Shihab Nye

born 1952 United States

← All quotes by Naomi Shihab Nye

17 quotes

Think of all the towns and cities
we've never seen or imagined.

Habibi (1997)

If you could be anyone,
would you choose to be yourself?

Habibi (1997)

Some days were long sentences
flowing into one another.

Habibi (1997)

There was a door in the heart
that had no lock on it.

Habibi (1997)

She opened her mouth
and a siren came out.

Habibi (1997)

When we were born
we were blank pieces of paper;
nothing had been written yet.

Habibi (1997)

Some people let their countries become their religions and that didn't work either. (p174)

Habibi (1997)

All our roots go deep down, even if they’re tangled (p199)

Habibi (1997)

"I would like to go to school with the donkeys in the field. To stand all day in the free air with an open mouth. No bells ringing." (p75)

Habibi (1997)

For years the word floated in the air around their heads, yellow pollen, wispy secret dust of the ages passed on and on. Habibi, darling, or Habibti, feminine for my darling. (p204)

Habibi (1997)

Outside, the sky felt deep and dark as if a large soft blanket had been thrown over the hills and valleys. (p54)

Habibi (1997)

Maybe peace was the size of a teacup. (p226)

Habibi (1997)

Did people who committed acts of violence think their victims and their victims' relatives would just forget? Didn't people see? How violence went on and on like a terrible wheel? (p225)

Habibi (1997)

Liyana Abboud had just tasted her first kiss when her parents announced they were leaving the country. (first line)

Habibi (1997)

When you liked somebody, you wanted to trade the best things you knew about. You liked them not only for themselves, but for the parts of you that they brought out. (p255)

Habibi (1997)

Maybe the hardest thing about moving overseas was being in a place where no one but your own family had any memory of you. It was like putting yourself back together with little pieces. (p80)

Habibi (1997)

"You will need to be brave. There are hard days coming. There are hard words waiting in people’s mouths to be spoken. There are walls. You can’t break them. Just find doors in them." (p258)

Habibi (1997)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Naomi Shihab Nye (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.