“Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing. Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning. Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong. Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it’s Independence Day.”
Reading quotes helped inspire and strengthen me when I was at my absolute weakest. Here are a few that gave me the courage to move forward during the hardest part of my life:
1. “You are allowed to terminate toxic relationships. You are allowed to walk away from people who hurt you. You are allowed to be angry and selfish and unforgiving.
You don’t owe anyone an explanation for taking care of yourself.”
2. “Don’t let someone’s words blind you from their behavior.”
3. “Nothing is weaker or smaller than the man who hurts women or children whether by his actions or by his words.”
4. “She moved on and I feel sorry for you because she overlooked your flaws, your temper, your selfishness, your inability to love anyone but yourself.
She could have anyone in the world, but she still chose you every time.
All you are now is a crease in her past, a scar on her chest, a memory that fades faster than a photograph of you in a sealed box, hidden.
Maybe now she will fight for someone who loves her, instead of someone who sucks the life out of her, never satisfied, even with her beating heart in his greedy hands.”
5. “I’m starting to hate him,” I said to my mom.
“Hate is good,” she said. “At least you’re starting to see him for what he is, and not what you think he is.
At least you’re starting to know what you deserve and not the little crumbs that he’s been giving you for far too long.
At least when you look at him, you’re not looking at him with those rose colored spectacles anymore.
Instead, you’re seeing him eye to eye, wide-eyed and in black and white panoramic view. Honey, this is one of the few times hate is good.
But don’t stay too long hating him, because that means he’s still got a hold on you. Indifference. Indifference is better.”
6. “You’re struggling again but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the fight. And just because you’ve hit rock bottom doesn’t mean you should call it a home.
You are a warrior. This battle doesn’t stand a chance.”
7. “But…as bad as it was, I learned something about myself. That I could go through something like that and survive.”
8. “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.”
9. “In the depths of hell, I learned who I was. It takes a strong soul to endure so much pain and heartache and still make it out alive; to not get stuck in the deep burning pit of misery.
It takes a resilient creature to claw their way back up out of darkness and back into a reality where your nightmares can finally turn into dreams.”
10. “Never let a person get comfortable disrespecting you. The more chances you give someone the less respect they’ll start to have for you.
They’ll begin to ignore the standards that you’ve set for yourself because they’ll know another chance will always be given.
They’re not afraid to lose you because they know that no matter what, you won’t walk away. They get comfortable with depending on your forgiveness.
Forgive yourself for putting up with that kind of nonsense and start to value your worth. You tolerate what you allow. What you allow will continue to happen to you.
To get what you want out of the universe, you have to embody that state first. Speak with your actions. Stand up for what you believe, even if it hurts letting go.”
11. “She held onto you for so long, much longer than most would, partially for love, but mostly because she forgot her self-worth since you were always belittling her.
She’s smart, loyal, beautiful, independent and trustworthy…someone who could easily have men lined up around the block begging to have a chance with her.
She did things out of the ordinary just to make you smile, cheered you up whenever you were down. You asked, she did it. Yet, every single day all of this went unnoticed and unappreciated by you.
What did you expect? Her to not find the courage to let you go?
Well, she found it and I’m sure you’ll attempt to replace her with another, you’ll even compare her to everyone you meet, but soon you’ll find out there’s no one like her.
Sure, you might become distracted at times because there are plenty of beautiful women in this world, but none like her. She’s irreplaceable.”
12. “I spent so many years walking on eggshells…never doing or saying the right thing. One day I decided I had had enough and stomped all over them.
Those broken eggshells cut me deeply as I walked away…but this…was the most beautiful pain I had ever felt.”
13. “Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.”
14. “There’s a blessing in the storm.”
15. “Strength is what we gain from the madness we survive.”
16. “No. You will no longer make fun of me and laugh at my intuition. You will no longer force me to submit or shame me into acting like everyone else.
I am not everyone else…I am a wild woman full of fire and magic. Stop trying to break my spirit. Honor what I truly am or get the fuck out of my way.”
17. “Beware of perpetrators in disguise… some people set fires wherever they go and have mastered the art of playing the burn victim.”
18. Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst. Be that fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything.
Be that independent who didn’t need a man. Be that girl who never backed down.”
19. “Today my professor told me every cell in our entire body is destroyed and replaced every seven years. How comforting it is to know one day I will have a body you will have never touched.”
20. “Forgive yourself for accepting less than you deserved – but don’t do it again.”