1.
I wouldn't call myself a geek, but I do sometimes teach Mommy and Daddy stuff about computers. And I do watch TV, but only informative programmes like the news and documentaries.
Adora Svitak
2.
In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.
Adora Svitak
3.
Since the age of four, I've been exploring what I can do with the written word: everything from championing literacy and youth voice to raising awareness about world hunger.
Adora Svitak
4.
You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow
Adora Svitak
5.
No matter your position or place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away.
Adora Svitak
6.
All that you need to become an entrepreneur and change the world is a working brain - and pretty much nothing else.
Adora Svitak
7.
Learning between grown-ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
Adora Svitak
8.
Young people are often asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' and given advice about how to lead meaningful adult lives, but where's the encouragement to lead meaningful lives right now?
Adora Svitak
9.
If you pursued something that you felt strongly about, then I call that success.
Adora Svitak
10.
There's no committee that says, 'This is the type of person who can change the world - and you can't.' Realizing that anyone can do it is the first step. The next step is figuring out how you're going to do it.
Adora Svitak
11.
Let's abolish the term 'childish' because adults normally cause the largest problems.
Adora Svitak
12.
It seems we're not only uninformed about our present, we're ignorant of our past.
Adora Svitak
13.
Our words can have power that we don't think we have in everyday life - anyone can make a difference.
Adora Svitak
14.
If I had my way, I'd end all wars and poverty. We should all be more aware of what's going on in the world around us and less ignorant.
Adora Svitak
15.
A lot of negative words adults call the young, like 'naive,' 'impulsive' and 'way too connected online,' are all things we can turn into strengths to help us.
Adora Svitak
16.
Prom has all the elements of a popular story. It reeks of all-Americanness, tension, drama. It has romance. Pretty dresses. Dancing. Limos. High school. Coming of age.
Adora Svitak
17.
We always reference kids but very rarely ask their opinion. Our inexperience might be what gives us the ability to teach our elders something, due to the fact that we are not jaded or cynical.
Adora Svitak
18.
Success on the front of women's rights will look like a world not only with obvious advances - where no girl is denied access to education, for instance - but also one with more subtle changes in how we regard gender and gender stereotypes.
Adora Svitak
19.
The first thing anyone can do, about any issue, is get informed.
Adora Svitak
20.
None of my friends don't have Facebook accounts. Op-eds and studies can highlight our decreased enthusiasm for Facebook 'til the cows come home, but it doesn't change the fact that we are chained to the beast. Voluntarily, of course.
Adora Svitak
21.
I realise I'm still a child, though I do feel older. I recently did an on-line test called 'What's Your True Age?' My result was 50-60 years old.
Adora Svitak
22.
Make sure that your kids or the kids in your life have an opportunity to share their ideas, and to teach you something about what we know.
Adora Svitak
23.
Mostly, I avoid worrying since the time spent doing it could be spent more constructively.
Adora Svitak
24.
I would say that kids are great in many ways, because I think that we are less hampered when it comes to 'this costs too much' or 'that's impossible.'
Adora Svitak
25.
With writing, I can express myself, really, and share my ideas and just let my thoughts flow out.
Adora Svitak
26.
The point of my work is to make it clear that all youth can make 'big miracles' happen.
Adora Svitak
27.
The fact that a baby can be born today and condemned to a life of hardship, struggle, and discrimination simply because of sex is enraging.
Adora Svitak
28.
My family joke that I'm really a very senior person who accidentally happens to be 11.
Adora Svitak
29.
Any good teacher knows how important it is to connect with students and understand our culture.
Adora Svitak
30.
The unsaid message of that endless rack of juniors' pushup bras? No matter what size you are, it still isn't good enough.
Adora Svitak
31.
We all love people who give credit to others for their success. Companies would probably do better with CEOs who didn't blow their own horn and ask for ridiculous salaries and new yachts every year.
Adora Svitak
32.
CEOs of top companies could probably use a dose of not-asking-for-raise behavior and less self-entitlement, rather than us trying to change girls in order to fit into the common mold of what we think a CEO looks like.
Adora Svitak
33.
Students read for tests and because their parents ask them to, but I think it's very important to tell children that you can read for fun, too, and to understand human spirit. It builds empathy.
Adora Svitak
34.
We're used to the characteristics of social media - participation, connection, instant gratification - and when school doesn't offer the same, it's easy to tune out.
Adora Svitak
35.
Enthusiasm just creates bubbles; it doesn't keep them from popping.
Adora Svitak
36.
The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you have been.
Adora Svitak
37.
To show that you truly care, you listen.
Adora Svitak
38.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of family encouragement - not just for me, but for everyone.
Adora Svitak
39.
As children, we have a tenuous idea of love; we often try to quantify it with how much we feel seen and heard.
Adora Svitak
40.
To try to teach ignoring technology is to ignore the progress that we have made over the last century. If school is preparation for the real world - a real world that is increasingly technology-driven - then to ignore technology is to become obsolete.
Adora Svitak
41.
The traits the word 'childish' addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.
Adora Svitak
42.
I realise I'm still a child, though I do feel older.
Adora Svitak
43.
History is made every day. The challenge is getting everyone to pay attention to it.
Adora Svitak
44.
By creating so many illusory images of physical perfection, whether on store aisles or storefronts ads, magazine covers or TV show, we speak more to the profit margins of companies than the self-esteem of today's girls.
Adora Svitak
45.
There are lots of different interpretations of the word 'prodigy.' My own is of someone who is talented and tries to help other children. So in that respect I could be called one, although I don't think I'll go off the rails.
Adora Svitak
46.
By bringing current events into the classroom, everyday discussion, and social media, maybe we don’t need to wait for our grandchildren’s questions to remind us we should have paid more attention to current events.
Adora Svitak
47.
If we all understood we can learn from both older and younger people, then we'd have a better world.
Adora Svitak
48.
Hoping to instill my love of learning in other children, I taught my first class at a local elementary school the year my first book, 'Flying Fingers,' debuted; since then, I have spoken at hundreds of schools, classrooms and conferences around the world.
Adora Svitak
49.
I was thrilled to be able to read at three. I just thought everyone loved reading as much as I did.
Adora Svitak
