I had read a Tale of Two Cities and found it up to my standards as a romantic novel. She opened the first page and I heard poetry for the first time in my life...her voice slid in and curved down trough and over the words. She was nearly singing.

The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.

You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily.

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

And one of my absolute favorite quotes of all-time, one that I've adopted as one of my greatest life mottos: Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: "I'm with you kid. Let's go."