Quotes from Dreamland Burning

Jennifer Latham ·  365 pages

Rating: (3.4K votes)


“I understand now that history only moves forward in a straight line when we learn from it. Otherwise it loops past the same mistakes over and over again,”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“The dead always have stories to tell. They just need the living to listen.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“I don’t believe that history holds easy answers or simple lessons, because those answers and lessons are stretched out over thousands—millions—of untold stories. But I do believe that if we seek those stories out, and if we listen to them and talk to each other with open hearts and minds, we can start to heal. I believe that good people working together can create meaningful change.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“Only one of us gets to be bitchy this early in the morning and I’ve got dibs.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“The lives that ended that night mattered. It was a mistake for this city to try to forget, and it’s an even bigger one to pretend everything’s fine now. Black men and women are dying today for the same reasons they did in 1921. And we have to call that out, Rowan. Every single time.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning



“history only moves forward in a straight line when we learn from it. Otherwise it loops past the same mistakes over and over again.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“I understand now that history only moves forward in a straight line when we learn from it. Otherwise it loops past the same mistakes over and over again.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“There's always been a love-hate thing between me and running. First off, if you don't get started at the ass crack of dawn, the Oklahoma summer sun will melt you into a puddle of good intentions. Plus, it hurts. I mean, have you ever seen a happy jogger? We scowl. We pant and grimace. In fact, if you ever see one of us smiling, you should assume we're a complete psychopath and run for your life.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“That girl’s like a skeeter bite on the ass!”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“she’s nonverbal until her first cup of coffee kicks in. Before that, you’re pretty much taking your life into your own hands if you try to engage her in conversation.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning



“But we wanted you to fill up on good things before you had to face the bad.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“There's no room for us in your bubble.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“What's that?" he asked.
"A balance sheet," I said. "To keep track of your payments."
He asked whether Pop had written it or me. When I answered truthfully, he handed the paper back like the useless thing it was. "Thank you," he said. "I won't be needing this."
Which took me by surprise and set me stammering how it was proof he was making his payments, and how he should take it because it was the right and proper way to do business.
"The rules aren't the same for me as they are for you," Joseph replied, shaking his head. "Don't you know that, Will?" Which put my nose out of joint so bad that I told him he was being rude, and that I was only trying to do him a favor at no small risk to myself.
Joseph's face went blank as the cloudless sky overhead. He eyed the receipt. Said, "Thank you, Mr. William. But I can't accept." And got back on his bicycle.
"That all you got to say?" I near shouted, frustrated at how easily he'd turned my good intentions into a fool's errand. And the quickest flash of hate you ever did see danced across the dark of his eyes.
I stood there, feeling awkward and a fool. Joseph put one foot on a pedal and said, real quiet, "If you'll excuse me, I've a funeral to attend."
Only then did I notice the band of mourning black around his upper arm.
"Who died?" I asked stupidly.
Joseph's eyes were flat. "Nobody important, Mr. William. Only a Negro boy like me.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“The lives that ended that night mattered. It was a mistake for this city to try to forget, and it's an even bigger one to pretend everything's fine now. Black men and women are dying today for the same reasons they did in 1921. And we have to call them out, Rowan. Every single time.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“Well, if 'exciting means drama and people dying and doctors and nurses rushing around like in the movies, then no, it wasn't. But if it means doing something that seems small now but can make a big difference in the long run, then it was.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning



“Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, racist skinheads, neo-Confederates, the KKK - up until that morning, I'd had no idea those were all different things, or that there were so many different ways to hate black people. Racists, it turned out, were into diversity after all.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


“Yes, Dad was white, but Mom wasn’t. Which meant that to the rest of the world I was black. At Mama Ray’s, I wasn’t the awkward line in a poem. I fit the meter. I rhymed.”
― Jennifer Latham, quote from Dreamland Burning


About the author

Jennifer Latham
Born place: in The United States
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Earning success is hard. The process is laborious, tedious, sometimes even boring. Becoming wealthy, influential, and world-class in your field is slow and arduous.”
― Darren Hardy, quote from The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success


“want you to listen to me. You seem to be under the misconception that there is something wrong with you, that there is nothing special about you. There is nobody else in the whole world that I would rather be with. I could look at you for hours and never get sick of it. I could spend every second of everyday in your presence and I would”
― Tiffany King, quote from Meant to Be


“When a beggar asks us for a quarter, our instinct is to say that the State has already confiscated our quarter for his benefit, and he should go to the State about it.”
― Albert Jay Nock, quote from Our Enemy the State


“Relationships are like Whack-a-Mole. You squash one annoying deformity and another one pops up in no time.”
― Melissa Jensen, quote from The Fine Art of Truth or Dare


“Only enter a fight if you are ready to finish the fight, by disabling or killing your opponent. Only run if you are ready to be chased. Only allow yourself to be chased if you are able to finish the chase with another fight. Do not waste time or energy.” A question popped into my mind. “What if I can just avoid the opponent completely?” “Avoidance is another word for running,”
― Kyle Timmermeyer, quote from Reintroduction


Interesting books

As the Crow Flies
(16.9K)
As the Crow Flies
by Jeffrey Archer
The Iron Trial
(47.2K)
The Iron Trial
by Holly Black
The Divan
(6.5K)
The Divan
by Hafez
Night Road
(68.7K)
Night Road
by Kristin Hannah
Own the Wind
(41.5K)
Own the Wind
by Kristen Ashley
Paint it Black
(10.2K)
Paint it Black
by Janet Fitch

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.