Bell Hooks Quotes

Real pain hurts so bad. When you've gone through something and you've overcome it, you're able to heal other people.

Women shouldn't be burdened by what existed in their past, we should all learn how to turn pain into strength.

Turn your wounds into wisdom.

All this pain is going to come back and make me stronger.

I get why we don't want to be in pain, but there's something very essential about what happens when we're in pain and some of the growth that can come from it if we stare at it straight in the face.

And I saw darkness for weeks. It never dawned on me that I could come out of it, but you heal. Nature heals you, and you do come out of it. All of a sudden I saw a crack of light ... then all of a sudden I saw another crack of light. Then I saw forms in the light. And I recognized that there was no darkness, that in darkness there'll always be light.

A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.

A lot of my wounds have healed. They have left scars, and I can either hide my scars, put a long sleeve shirt on, and cover them up. Or, I can show them off and say, "Yeah, it happened."

I think it [my first heartbreak] probably just taught me that you will always heal. That this too shall pass. The first time you feel that sort of pain, you think it's never going to go away. Once you do survive it, you realize you can survive anything.

There is healing in the bitter cup.

There are some pains that run too deep for anything to absolve them. The best we can do is pick up the pieces and hope for the strength we need to keep going.

Sometimes to heal, you must first get hurt.

. . . your history is no less important to your survival than your ability to breathe. In the end, you can only determine whether to saturate your memories with pain or with perspective. Forgetting is not an option. I tell you the truth now: Pain was not God's plan for this life. It is a reality, but it is not a part of the plan.

I speak to people who have been through so much more.

I am not a victim. I am an angry survivor.

Heartbreak is hard, but you find more and more things to be grateful for every day.

A lot of people do have tragic childhoods. But you know what? Get over it.

Suffering isn't ennobling, recovery is.

What happened to me in Somalia doesn't define me.

I have been drawn to stories that are attempting to turn suffering into beauty.

I think it's about not just the crisis you're in, but how do you get to the other side? How do we heal? How do we survive this experience while remaining hopeful instead of filled with despair? That's what interests me.

If something hurtful enters your body, you create something beautiful to protect yourself from it. That's my philosophy.

I want survivors to know that healing is possible.

I don't have shame around where I've been or what I've done to survive to get to where I'm at in my life. When you don't have shame around something, it can't hurt you.