Andre: Justice doesn't mean the bad guy goes to jail, it just means that someone pays for the crime.
Erin Gruwell: The evaluation assignment was to grade yourself on the work you're doing. You gave yourself an F. What's that about? Andre: It's what I feel I deserve, that's all. Erin Gruwell: Oh really? [pause] Erin Gruwell: You know what this is? Th...
Miep Gies: But even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.
Marcus: That Miep Gies lady, the one that help hide her, I like her. I got all these other books about her from the library. Erin Gruwell: Wow, you used your library card? Marcus: Nah...
[while playing the Line Game, in which Erin makes the class reveal that they have more in common than they care to admit] Erin Gruwell: Who has been to jail or a juvenile hall? Sindy: Does a refugee camp count? Erin Gruwell: You decide. [Sindy stands...
Eva: White people wanting respect like they deserve it for free. Erin Gruwell: I'm a teacher, it doesn't matter what color I am. Eva: It's all about color, it's about people deciding what you deserve, about people wanting what they don't deserve. Abo...
Erin Gruwell: But to get respect you have to give it. Andre: Bullshit. Erin Gruwell: What? Andre: Why should I give you my respect to you? Because you're a teacher? I don't know you. How do I know you're not a liar standing up there. How do I know yo...
Marcus: I've never had a hero before. But you are my hero. Miep Gies: Oh, no. No, no, no, young man, no. I am not a hero. No. I did what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do. That is all.
Brandy: In every war, there is an enemy. I watched my mother being hlaf-beaten to death, and watched as bloodand tears streamed down her face. I felt useless and scared, and furious at the same time. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back ...
[following Erin's impassioned speech about the Nazi Holocaust] Tito: [raises hand] What's a holocaust? Erin Gruwell: Who here knows what the Holocaust is? [all keep their hands down except Ben, the only white kid, who sheepishly raises his] Erin Gruw...
Erin Gruwell: Does anyone know Homer's the Odyssey? Andre: I know Homer the Simpson.
Gloria: If you look in my eyes, you'll see a lonely girl. If you like at my smile, you'll see nothing wrong. If you pull up my shirt, you'll see the bruises. What did I do to make him so mad?
Eva: In America, a girl can be crowned a princess for her beauty, and her grace. But an Aztec princess is chosen for her blood. To fight for her people as Papi and his father fought, against those who say we are less than they are, against those who ...
Brandy: Nobody ever listens to a teenager. Everybody thinks you should be happy just because you're young. They don't see the wars that we fight every single day. And one day, my war will end. And I won't die. And I will not tolerate abuse from anyon...
Marcus: No, that don't fly Ma. Erin Gruwell: First of all I'm not anybody's mother. Andre: No, that's not what it means. Eva: It's a sign of respect... for you.
Ben: Ms. G, we can fight this y'know, like the Freedom Riders. Marcus: Yeh yeh, we all drive around on a bus, only this time they try and bust us up we bust a few of them board member's heads. Brandy: Or we can go to the newspapers. Media...? Tito: O...
Eva: So when's Anne Frank gonna smoke Hitler?
Miep Gies: You are the heroes. You are heroes every day.
