- But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. -"The House on Mango Street"
- Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake. -"Those Who Don't"
- In the canteen, which was nothing special, lots of boys and girls watched while I cried and ate my sandwich, the bread already greasy and the rice cold. -"A Rice Sandwich"
- Nenny, I say, but she doesn't hear me. She is too many light-years away. She is in a world we don't belong to anymore. Nenny. Going. Going. -"Hips"
- You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn't know what she meant. -"Born Bad"
- [When her son tells her to speak English, Mamacita] lets out a cry, a hysterical laugh, as if he had torn the only skinny thread that kept her alive, the only road out to that country. And then, to break her heart forever, the baby boy who has begun to talk, starts to sing the Pepsi commercial he heard on T.V. -"No Speak English"
- Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I'll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house. -"Bums in the Attic"
- When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are. -"The Three Sisters"
- Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you'll come back too. -"Alicia & I Talking on Edna's Steps"
- I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free. -"Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes"
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