Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.
Terry McmillanRead
Let me put it this way: when I read, I learned the world was not as small as my house. And that everybody in my home town was not representative of the way people in the world were raised. And that was what saved me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights how reading expands one's understanding of the world beyond their immediate surroundings.
Terry McMillan emphasizes the transformative power of reading in her quote, illustrating how literature allowed her to perceive the vast diversity of life experiences beyond her hometown. By revealing the broader spectrum of human existence, reading provided her with a sense of salvation, suggesting that increased awareness and understanding can lead to personal growth and liberation from narrow perspectives.
Themes
ReadingLearningWorldviewPerspectiveGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
During a literacy event to inspire children, I could use this quote to show them how books can open up their understanding of the world.
More from Terry Mcmillan
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As for literature – to introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child's intercourse must always be with good books, the best that we can find.
Charlotte MasonRead
I went to the trash pile at Tuskegee Institute and started my laboratory with bottles, old fruit jars and any other thing I found I could use. ... [The early efforts were] worked out almost wholly on top of my flat topped writing desk and with teacups, glasses, bottles and reagents I made myself.
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Future generation is the most important thing.
ConfuciusRead
On the contrary, if they are treated with justice and humanity, proper example and the advantages of education given them, the coming years will be as bright and prosperous to the unfortunate race as the past has been dark and painful.
Nelson A. MilesRead
I ransack public libraries & find them full of sunk treasure.
Virginia WoolfRead
First, we parents have to back up school authority and quit making excuses for our kids when they misbehave.
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