A biography for Greg Boylehasn’t been written yet.
“Even gang members imagine a future that doesn't include gangs.”
“No kid is seeking anything when he joins a gang; he's always fleeing something. He's not being pulled; he's being pushed by the circumstances in which he finds himself.”
“If you are paying attention, then the day is going to be pretty joyful, and a lot of delight will fill it.”
“My church is in the detention facilities where I preside and celebrate the Eucharist. To me that's the church. That's the people of God.”
“Most citizens viewing the tape of Rodney G. King being beaten by police officers were stunned and uncomprehending. Most citizens, that is, but the urban poor.”
“We can't get at crime unless we know what language it speaks. Otherwise, we are just suppressing the cough, not curing the disease.”
“Kids are different from adults. They are not as developed as far as brain science, controlling impulses, and maturity, and fall prey to all kinds of pressures.”
“Like the suffering child, gang members act out of their despair, and their actions are all the more alarming now for our not having heeded their cry long ago. The shortsighted neglect that keeps us locked up in our outrage has also kept us from viable solutions.”
“I always have a funny story at communion time that underscores that no one is perfect, and that communion is not for perfect people but for hungry people.”
“At its best, an injunction creates a kind of vigilant heat that moves kids toward the light.”
“You are exactly what God had in mind when he made you.”
“People have started to see that 'smart on crime' rather than 'tough on crime' makes sense.”
“I'm not going to be here forever. I don't plan on going anywhere, but I don't know anybody for whom death is an exception.”
“The margins don't get erased by simply insisting that the powers-that-be erase them.”
“I've never met an evil person ever.”
“Reactive and proactive policing are both necessary. Still, we need to lower expectations that such efforts can ever be responsive to crime.”
“The wrong idea has taken root in the world. And the idea is this: there just might be lives out there that matter less than other lives.”
“The highest hallmark of a civilized society is not the rapidity by which it exacts vengeance, but its ability to hold victim and victimizer in its compassionate heart.”
“God can get tiny if we're not careful.”
“Me wanting a gang member to have a different life would never be the same as that gang member wanting to have one.”