I was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx, went to public school, got out of public college, went into the Army, and then I just stuck with it.
quote by Colin Powell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I was raised in a Bronx public housing project, but studied at two of the nation's finest universities. I did work as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting violent crimes that devastate our communities.
quote by Sonia Sotomayor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Life
I am a nuyoriquen (new York Puerto Rican) born and raised
Living with the Bronx gangs was my craze.
You had to wear your street colors wherever you would go
This was the gang colors that you had to show.
I had to be in three gangs, just to get to school
This had become part of the street rules.
I had to change my jerseys going from turf to turf
And when I’d forget it would get much worse.
Scorpions, Dragons, Lightnings too, and three other
Divisions of Crowns ruled the south Bronx.
Egyptian, Royal, Bohemian Crowns
They had become Bronx renown.
But the most feared was the older gang
The Suicides was their name.
Against all gangs they would go down
Including their brothers from the Bohemian Crowns.
For each gang I had a different name
Derringer for the two derringers I carried
Nava Jo for my climbing skills
Blade for the switch blades I carried.
And with these names I had gained fame.
(ha-ha if you could call it that!)
I knew that I would have to leave these streets
And getting out of the gangs was the biggest feat.
I joined the Army at eighteen years of age
And from there my life did change.
When I was in the streets, I could not write my poetry
For this was punkish for a guy
and they said poetry was a lie.
This was the times of desegregation in Alabama, and Mississippi
And then entering into Vietnam, when the French moved out.
This left an imprint on my mind
and I wasn’t going back into past times.
When I returned back to the states
And went To an army buddies home
and met his family
I knew my past life would be history.
His father was a poet, and the best that I have known
And to change my life to me he had shown.
Anyone can change, with help and determination
And your belief in GOD will be your salvation.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My early childhood prepared me to be a social psychologist. I grew up in a South Bronx ghetto in a very poor family. From Sicilian origin, I was the first person in my family to complete high school, let alone go to college.
quote by Philip Zimbardo
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Millions of public workers have become a kind of privileged new class - a new elite, who live better than their private sector counterparts. Public servants have become the public's masters. No wonder the public is upset.
quote by Mortimer Zuckerman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Second, when comparing private school and public school test scores, it's like apples and oranges. Public schools have to take everyone, but private schools can be selective. It's not accurate or fair to compare the job they do.
quote by Dennis Moore
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Public Animal #9
Me and G.B.
We ain't never gonna confess
We cheated at the math test
We carved some dirty words in our desk
Well now it's time for recess
Old man waitin by the monkey bars
Tradin all his ball cards
And they promised him a gold star
And they told him he could go far
Hey Mr. Bluelegs
Where are you takin me?
I'm like a lifer
In the state penitentiary
If I keep my nose clean
I won't get my eyes shined
But I'm proud to be
Public Animal Number Nine
License plates are runnin
Out of my ears
I'd give a month of cigarettes
For just a couple of lousy beers
Or even a bottle of
Real cheap wi-hine
But that's the price you pay to be
Public Animal Number Nine, Number Nine
Hey Mrs. Cranston
Where are you takin me?
I feel like a lifer
In the state penitentiary
She wanted an Einstein
But she got a Frankenstein
Yeah, I'm proud to be
Public Animal Number Niiiirrrrrgh
Public Animal Number Nine
Public Animal Number Nine
Public Animal Number Nine Nine
Public Animal Number Nine Number Nine
Number Nine Number Nine
Number, Number Nine Animal Number Nine
Public Animal Number Nine Nine
Public Animal Numbergh Niiiirrrrrgh
Public Animal Nurrrgh Nirrrgh
Errrrrrrrrrrrgh
Public Animal Number Ni-yine
Public Animal Number Ni-yine
Public Animal Number Number Nine Nine
Public Animal Naaaaaaaagh
song performed by by Alice Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I think that the public is in and the public is in big, and the public is not, I don't think going to pull out because the public knows what I said about 1987.
quote by Jim Cramer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The public library is a center of public happiness first, of public education next.
quote by John Cotton Dana
Submitted by Micheleflowerbomb
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My focus and that of all members of the Government responsible for delivering services to the public is to make sure that the public sector can use all the skills it needs to do the job the public wants it to do.
quote by Estelle Morris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In view of our public pledges, we public officials can never again go before the public merely promising election reform. The time for promises is past.
quote by Charles Edison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We've had public hearings. We've had interim reports, which our statute has encouraged us to provide to the public. We have brought the public along with us, trying to make as much available as possible over time.
quote by Richard Ben Veniste
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Get Along
Feeling like I'm stuck in a hole
body and soul
while you're out of control
Now I know why you had to go
well I think we both know
why it had to be so
I've been trying not to cry
when I'm in the public eye
Stuck here with the shame
and taking
my share of the blame
while making
sudden plans that don't include you
I get along, get along
without you very well
I get along very well
Now I know you'd much rather be
with rock royalty
instead of someone like me
The big boys are back and we need them, you said
Think it was something you'd read
and it stuck in your head
Even though I don't suppose
that's as far as it goes
You've go quite an appetite
for being wronged and in the right
Well from now on it won't affect me
I get along, get along
without you very well
I get along very well
The morning after the night before
I'd been alerted
to your lies
I phoned you up
Your calls were all diverted
Took a long time to track you down
even then you were defiant
It's not what you think it is, you said
and proceeded to deny it
So I lost my patience at last
and it happened so fast
you belong in the past
I've been trying not to cry
when I'm in the public eye
Stuck here with the shame
and taking
my share of the blame
while making
sudden plans that don't include you
I get along, get along
without you very well
I get along very well
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If we allow public funds to be used to support our relatively benign, morally grounded schools, we will have to allow those public funds to be used for any type of private school.
quote by Jonathan Kozol
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I believe if a private citizen is able to affect public opinion in a constructive way he doesn't have to be an elected public servant to perform a public service.
quote by Warren Beatty
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Petulance
Quit the public office first
If you want to be petulant.
If you show your petulancy
It is dangerous for the country.
Public officers are on the chair
Only for the general public.
And adulation is to
Give aside.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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When public and private sectors combine intellectual and other resources, more can be achieved.
quote by Gro Harlem Brundtland
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The public! the public! how many fools does it require to make the public?
quote by Thomas Chalmers
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I propose a Constitutional Amendment providing that, if any public official, elected or appointed, at any level of government, is caught lying to any member of the public for any reason, the punishment shall be death by public hanging.
quote by L. Neil Smith
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We call ourselves public servants but I'll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good.
quote by Barbara Jordan
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Formerly a public man needed a private secretary for a barrier between himself and the public. Nowadays he has a press secretary to keep him properly in the public eye.
quote by Daniel J. Boorstin
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