100 Quotes by Elizabeth Smart

What is going to happen? Nothing. For everything has happened. All time is now, and time can do no better. Nothing can ever be more now than now, and before this nothing was. There are no minor facts in life, there is only the one tremendous one.

Do I want to, can I face my own pain alone now? Shock keeps horror at bay. Hands off. Distanced by mist and pride and drink and friends and necessities like food, babies, fires... So the pain sits still, crouching, heavy, occupying all my inside, always, all the time, whatever my outside does.

If I had my wilderness, nature could be my lover. What can I do in the paved streets for my thirsty roots? I waste time. I encourage fools. I slip the vital hours into penny slot machines – to pass time, to start my stuck wheels only love can oil.

This life is a test, and we're put down here to make choices. The truth is, the bad choices of other people can hurt us.

I see myself as a survivor, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm a survivor. To me, survivor implies strength, implies that I have been through something and I made it out the other side.

If I get to the end of my life, if I die, and I find out religion is one big lie, I still won't regret it because it's helped me to live a better life, to be a better person, to care about people, to believe in forgiveness, to believe in hope.

I will feel like a success if I raise my children to be kind and happy people.

I will never regret being there for my children, watching them, making sure they'll be okay. But I might regret not being there for them.

When I look in the mirror, I also see a mother and a wife and someone I am proud to be. I see an advocate. I see a survivor.