How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
The old professor often talked to Señor Saguaro—and to us. He was not certified to teach in Arizona, but that did not stop him. Every Saturday morning his house became a school. Fourth-graders, twelfth-graders—all are welcome. No tests, no grades, no attendance record. Just the best school most of us had ever gone to. He covered everything from toothpaste to tapeworms and somehow made it fit together (7.5).
Archie is a teacher by his very nature. He doesn't have to be in a school following a curriculum; he sees those teachable-moments everywhere and thoroughly enjoys imparting his knowledge and wisdom to anyone, specifically young people, who is willing to learn. We kind of wish he were our neighbor, too.
Quote #2
"I want to put her on Hot Seat. Dorko Borlock here doesn't want to."
Archie studied me through the smoke. I thought I saw approval, but when he spoke, he merely said, "Work it out, men" (7.48-49).
Leo is very perceptive. He often knows things, but then he second-guesses himself or is just too cowardly and messes things up. It is most likely true that Archie does agree with Leo. He wouldn't want Stargirl on their mean-spirited show. However, he knows that sometimes, we have to figure things out for ourselves. It is much more important for them to learn to resolve their conflicts without adult interference.
Quote #3
"You'll know her more by your questions than by her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day you might see someone you know" (7.50).
Like a true sage, Archie is full of cryptic and confusing advice. Of course these instructions eventually become totally clear. So why not be clear in the first place? Well, like most good teachers, Archie knows that the way to help people learn is to help them understand that questions can be even more important than answers. Instead of wanting answers all the time, Leo should probably spend some time thinking about why he's asking these questions in the first place.
Quote #4
"So, what should I do?"
Archie waved his hand. "Oh, well, that's the easy part. Stay away from her: your problem's kaput."
I sneered. "Great advice. You know it's not that easy."
He did know, of course, but he wanted me to say it" (19. 16-19).
Great teachers have a way of letting us come to our own conclusions, even when they've known them all along. Of course Archie is acting more like a counselor than a teacher, here. He knows what's right, but he won't tell Leo, because it's more important that Leo come to the same conclusion all on his own. That way, it's more meaningful.
Quote #5
Like so many of Archie's words, they seemed not to enter through my ears but to settle on my skin, there to burrow like tiny eggs awaiting the rain of my maturity, when they would hatch and I at last would understand (19.39).
In this really cool simile, Leo compares the way you typically receive knowledge (through you ears) to how you get wisdom from Archie (through little eggs that enter your skin and hatch at a later date). Has someone ever told you something that made absolutely no sense to you till much later?
Quote #6
"He says it all boils down to this—if I'm translating correctly: Whose affection do you value more, hers or the others'?
The Señor says everything will follow from that."
I wasn't sure I understood the Señor any more than I understood Archie half the time, but I said nothing, and I went home (19.52).
This is a great example of how good a teacher Archie really is. He has Leo actually thinking (at least momentarily) that the cactus and Archie are two separate people. Hilarious. Of course the Señor is hard to understand; he's a cactus, for Pete's sake. The thing can't actually talk. But in the comedy of the moment it's a reminder that the right question can be so very important in learning.
Quote #7
In bed that night, as the moonlight reached high tide under my chin, I realized that in fact I understood the question perfectly. I just didn't want to answer it (19.52).
Sometimes, we're our own best teachers. Leo spends some quiet time in the moonlight (thanks again, nature), and comes to his own realization about his Stargirl situation. Of course, he wouldn't have gotten to this moment if it weren't for Archie and Señor Saguaro.
Quote #8
She taught me to revel. She taught me to wonder. She taught me to laugh (20.8).
Stargirl is a teacher to Leo on several levels. She doesn't bring him facts to learn, but she teaches him how to live more fully. We wish we all had Stargirls in our lives.
Quote #9
She saw things. I had not known there was so much to see.
She was forever tugging my arm and saying, "Look!"
I would look around, seeing nothing. "Where?"
She would point. "There."
In the beginning I still could not see. She might be pointing to a doorway, or a person, or the sky. But such things were so common to my eyes, so undistinguished, that they would register as "nothing." I walked in a gray world of nothings (20.9-13)
Stargirl teaches Leo to "see" the interesting things around him as if he were a visitor to a new land. This takes him out of a "gray world of nothings" and into a colorful, vibrant world of infinite interest.
Quote #10
"This is… unbelievable. Files. On people. Like she was a spy."
Archie nodded, smiling. "A lovely treason, hm?"
I could not speak. He led me out into the dazzling light (31.44-46).
In this instance, like in so many others, Archie takes Leo into the "light." In other words, while Stargirl leads Leo from "a gray world of nothings" into a world of color and wonder, Archie leads Leo from the darkness of his own ignorance into the light of knowledge and truth. Now there's a happy ending.