3 Quotes & Sayings By Naomi Shibab Nye

After graduating from the University of Chicago, Naomi returned to her native Chicago where, at age 20, she made a film about the music scene in the city. Her family had just moved to the city and she started hanging out with a group of musicians and writers that included Bob Fosse, John Cusack, and Corey Taylor. She joined one of their bands and toured with them for two years before dropping out and joining a new band. She went on to write for Rolling Stone and Spin magazines and has written for Entertainment Weekly Read more

She has also produced TV shows such as "The Girls Next Door," "I Love the '90s," "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story," "Members Only," and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

1
Sometimes people carried anger around for years, in a secret box inside their bodies, and it grew tighter like a hardening knot. The problem with it getting tighter and smaller was that the people did, too, hiding it. Liyana had seen this happen even in elementary school. Somebody wasn't fair to somebody and the hurt person just held it in. By the end of the year they had nearly disappeared. But other people responded differently. They let their anger grow so large it ate them up — even their voices and laughter. And still they couldn't get rid of it. They forgot where it had come from. They tried to shake it loose, but no one liked them by now. Liyana wondered if the person who could let it out the same size it was to begin with, was luckiest. In Jerusalem, so much old anger floated around, echoed from fading graffiti, seeped out of cracks. Sometimes it bumped into new anger in the streets. The air felt stacked with weeping and raging and praying to God by all the different names. Naomi Shibab Nye
2
... mother seemed happy because the school yard where Rafik would spend his recesses was surrounded by a high stone wall. She'd recently started talking about 'safety' in a way that made Liyana jumpy. Liyana never thought about safety unless someone else brought it up. She didn't WANT to think about it either. SHE WANTED TO LIVE IN AN UNLOCKED WORLD Naomi Shibab Nye