"When I first found out that Superman wasn't real, I was about maybe eight. And I was talking to my mother about it. And she was like, 'No, no, no. There's no Superman.' And I started crying. I really thought he was coming to rescue us. The chaos, the violence, the danger. No hero was coming."

Family

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Family as articulated by Geoffrey Canada. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Family provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Geoffrey Canada

Geoffrey Canada is an American educator, social activist and author. Since 1990, Canada has been president of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization that states its goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem. This initiative serves a 97-block area of Harlem replete with at-risk children. Canada serves as the chairman of Children's Defense Fund's board of directors. He was a member of the board of directors of The After-School Corporation, a nonprofit organization that aims to expand educational opportunities for all students. Canada's recommendation for educational reform is to start early using wide-ranging strategies and never give up.

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More by Geoffrey Canada

"One of the things that sells music is when the artist is looked at as someone who's come up from the streets. Not just any streets, but the toughest, meanest streets of the urban ghetto. And that's called 'street credibility.'"

— Geoffrey Canada
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"When I began working in not-for-profits, it was taking a vow of poverty, which eliminated huge numbers of folks."

— Geoffrey Canada
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"Education is the only billion dollar industry that tolerates abject failure."

— Geoffrey Canada
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"Banks used to open and operate between 10 and 3. They operated 10 to 3. They were closed for lunch hour. Now, who can bank between 10 and 3? The unemployed. They don't need banks. They got no money in the banks. Who created that business model? Right? And it went on for decades. You know why? Because they didn't care. It wasn't about the customers."

— Geoffrey Canada
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More about Family

"I was the first person to go to university from my family."

— Ellie Goulding
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"And I remember leaving my place in L.A. and - my father is a big fight fan - and I said, 'Dad, I got a couple of days off and I'm getting ready to go to Houston to sign to fight Muhammad Ali."

— Wilt Chamberlain
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"I'm a big kid, I'm a kid at heart, so I still love the classic family films, such as the great Warner Bros film 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' - not the remake, but the original. It's still one of the best movies, hands down, ever made, and of course that goes back to the ingenuity of the characters and the storyline."

— Corey Feldman
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"Adults find pleasure in deceiving a child. They consider it necessary, but they also enjoy it. The children very quickly figure it out and then practice deception themselves."

— Elias Canetti
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