Augusten Burroughs Quotes

Even as a child, even as my blood-past was drained from me, I understood that if I were strong enough to accept it, I was being offered a second history.

Every human being has gone through a tragedy of sorts. And the idea is that you have two paths you can take, you can find that alchemy that turns lead into gold, find that magic where you can see the loss as an entry point for learning and grow from it and become wiser and stronger.

I found out that the things that hurt us the most can become the fuel and the catalyst that propel us toward our destiny. It will either make you bitter or it will make you better.

Your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel.

All of us are survivors, but how many of us transcend survival?

The death of my kid made me a stronger person. There's no end to what I'm willing to do.

I had a calling inside of me. I had a sense that when I was going through experiences like living on the streets, losing my parents to AIDS, just having my whole world turned upside-down, there was this feeling inside of me like I was meant for something greater.

I think some of the funniest and most artistic people I know are the ones who had a hard time at school. They often have humility and artistry. So, as much as I feel bad for kids who have to go through a rough childhood, I believe that if they can turn it around, it's going to make them better people later on.

Life delivered me a catastrophe, but I found a richness of soul.

I am a sweet old softy, but it took toughness to get through what I went through.

As a novelist, I have always been interested in how people come to terms with difficult, life-altering events.

I'm a strong man, and usually I get over hurts and it makes me stronger when I come back.

I've had to deal with my tragedies, and how you cope with them is what life's all about. You can choose to let them consume you or choose not to.

Turn your wounds into wisdom.

I am a big believer in life in this fact: Scars are a very beautiful thing.

There was a time when I was young and unemployed, struggling to start my career. During my A-Levels, I was hit by a car, which shattered my bones and left me confined to my bedroom for a year. Weirdly, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

You will find that you survive humiliation. And that's an experience of incalculable value.

That is the challenge Companion. To take what has happened to you and learn from it. Nothing is quite so destructive as pity, especially self-pity. No event in life is so terrible that one cannot rise above it.

Nothing changes what alreaday happened. It will always have happened. You either let it break you down or you don't.

I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.

The fire of my tribulations had not simply been pain to be endured. It had been an agent of transformation. After all that I'd been through, I'd changed. Not for the worse, I was pretty sure--at least not yet. But only a moron or a freaking lunatic could have faced the things I had and remained unfazed by them.

I've overcome a lot - sexual abuse, death of a loved one, bad parents and experienced life. My nature is such I not only survived all this but I have thrived. I've always been psychologically ambitious in that I've never been willing to settle emotionally for anything less then what's needed. I've wanted more then that from life.

You've been told that you're broken. That you're damaged goods ... there is also Post-Traumatic Growth. You come back from war stronger and more sure of who you are.

The one thing all that battle taught me, is that no one walks away without scars. No one. (Bad Moon Rising)