But we are more than genteel or civilized/ we are an idea in the process of being realized.

Sometimes becoming drug free has less to do with addiction and more to do with sanity.

My experiences with violence in schools still echo throughout my life but standing to face the problem has helped me in immeasurable ways.

I have loved this life. I smile because I have tiny dreams that play hopscotch at the corners of my mouth. And every time I breathe they float, every time I laugh, they fly kites.

Look directly into every mirror. Realize our reflection is the first sentence to a story, and our story starts: We were here.

I you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror. Look a little closer, stare a little longer. Because there is something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit. You built a cast around your broken heart and signed it yourself, you signed it THEY WERE WRONG.

Don't tell me that [broken heartstrings] hurt less than a broken bone, that an ingrown life is something surgeons can cut away, that there's no way for it to metastasize - it does.