More from Cory Booker

The world you see outside of you is a reflection of what you have inside of you.

CB

Cory Booker

Pitzer College Commencement 2010, 2010

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The Story Behind This Quote

Booker told the story of moving to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Newark as a young law student, eager to make a difference. When he met the tenant president of the housing projects — a five-foot woman on the fifth floor — and described the neighborhood's problems, she looked at him with disgust and said 'You can't help me.' She then delivered this lesson: if you're someone who only sees problems and darkness, that's all there will ever be. But if you open your eyes and see hope, opportunity, love, and the face of God, then you can be someone who helps.

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