Ruth Behar > Quotes

“Now I know why they call sick people by the word 'patient'. The patient has to have patience. Wait and wait and wait and not lose hope" -Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“My life has become a story. One day your life with become a story too.

All we can do is have faith that life leads us where it does for a reason, so we can learn things we didn't know about ourselves. One day you will look back on your suffering and you will find a meaning for it and that will be your story" -Baba”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“I was touched by the honesty and courage that I felt it took for you, an academic, to write a book as personal as this one.”
― Ruth Behar, The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart

“Some of us have scars you can see and some of us have scars that we hide deep inside, hoping no one will ever ask about them.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“But wherever I go, I know I will feel most at home with the wounded of the world, who hold their heads up high no matter how broken they may seem.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“We come from people who found hope wherever they went.”
― Ruth Behar, Tía Fortuna's New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey

“Why is it that bad things have to happen so you learn there are lots of good people in the world?" -Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“The only way to deal with fear is to treat it like an unwelcome guest. If you keep entertaining it, you’ll never be rid of it.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“You listen well and that makes you a good keeper of stories. I am sure that all my memories are safe with you" -Baba”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“Some of us come here as shooting stars, to shine brightly for only the briefest moment, and others of us come and overstay our welcome, living to a ripe old age and forgetting our own names.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“But I think if your dreams are small they can get lost, like trying to find a needle in a haystack...When a dream is big, you can see it better and hold on to it." -Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“It's the land of my ancestors. I need to set my feet on that soil and see how I feel. I have missed my mother's warm tortillas and many more things than I can name.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“The only way to deal with fear is to treat it like an unwelcome guest. If you keep entertaining it, you'll never be rid of it" -Amara”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“My darling daughter, she needs to understand it is necessary to go forward, not back.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“That's what freedom really is about - having a choice" -Reina”
― Ruth Behar, Across So Many Seas

“I know, mi cielo. Don't despair. Hay más tiempo que vida. Mami”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“What a gift it is to get a second chance at life when the worst is past." Ruth Behar, the author”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“...when Ruthie emerges...I lie there quietly listening to her fears, her sorrows. Then I tell her good-bye, muster my strength, rise and open the door and et the sunshine in. I become the grown-up Ruth and return tot he world no longer feeling so small. I step out, legs trembling a little but my hear full, and set forth on the next journey, entrusting myself the the beauty and danger of life all over again." the author, Ruth Behar”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“At the last minute I change my whish: All I want is to be alive next year.
Being alive is the best gift of all.
Thank you, life." Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar

“At the last minute I change my wish: All I want is to be alive next year.
Being alive is the best gift of all.
Thank you, life." Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“And what's happening now? My real heart, why does it hurt?
I think it wants to break open too.
That must be my heart's way of making room for all the love the world still has to give" -Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“You know what the doctor said, Mami? The doctor said I'm lucky because I didn't end p paralyzed for life like the lady in the car in front of us. So that makes me a lucky broken girl. Ruthie”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“Amara, don't cry. You're too tough to cry."
"Your right, girl, you're right. But even tough girls cry sometimes. Like Chicho say, we cry to get stronger." -Ruthie and Amara”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“It’s best you go now,”
― Ruth Behar, Letters from Cuba

“We all have our troubles.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“It took fifty years for me to release that pain and to honor the voice of the broken girl. I feel blessed to have found the words to tell this story, tough I don't recommend that anyone wait that long Pain is pain. Speak up. Tell your story." Ruth Behar, the author”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“As I take her gift, Danielle says, “For you, Ruthie. Welcome back to the world.”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“...always live the truth of who you are, not the falsehood that others may wish to force upon you" -Father”
― Ruth Behar, Across So Many Seas

“Why is it that bad things have to happen so you learn there are lots of good people in the world?”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl

“Amara, don't cry! You're too touch to cry."
"You're right, girl, you're right. But even tough girls cry sometimes. Lick Chicho says, we cry to get stronger." - Ruthie and Amara”
― Ruth Behar, Lucky Broken Girl