Iyanla Vanzant Quotes

I've been through some very difficult stages in my life, but I wouldn't change anything.

I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them.

I do believe in the old saying, 'What does not kill you makes you stronger.' Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.

If I take back any of the bumps, bruises or scrapes I've been through. I wouldn't be the same person.

I don't regret what I've been through. I've had ups and downs, super highs and some really low lows. I've been so blessed that I could never say, 'I wish this didn't happen.' It's part of who I am. There's nothing in my life that's so ugh.

It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.

Every journey that is successful has culs-de-sac and speed bumps. I carry a wisdom gene through my life through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I'm better for all the things that have happened to me, the good and the bad.

I don't really think about having had a hard life. It was just my life, and it's all I knew. It made me who I am - all the good and bad - and it's where all of the songs on Here For The Party came from. I've lived them all.

I'm very very happy for my hardships and misfortunes: they build character and make you a better person. Even if I think it's something you have to carry with you, it's definitely something that makes you more empathic towards other people, makes you understand people and relationships so much better.

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

My assignment is to take my situation and to use it to help others who feel hopeless and/or helpless because of loss.

As I have encountered difficult moments in my own life, I have been privileged to learn from the great men I have come to know as a writer.

The most important thing is that sometimes you have to go through hard times to get to the good stuff.

Certain stories we carry with us, events in our life, they define who we are. It's not a matter of getting over anything; we have to make the best of it.

When you overcome a profound loss, or there's some catalyst in your life that shifts everything, if you're able to take it in stride and heal, it can make for much more three-dimensional and empathetic people.

I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome and have faith. I think those tough times make you a stronger person.

I never said I wanted a 'happy' life but an interesting one. From separation and loss, I have learned a lot. I have become strong and resilient, as is the case of almost every human being exposed to life and to the world. We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.

I feel like I have a Ph.D. in life, I'm a survivor. I've not only survived, I've thrived.

My journey through life has led me through both light and dark places, and it's because of those experiences that I have learned how to work through my character defects and to help others do the same.

If it were not for the bad things that've happened to me, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

I look back at myself, this innocent person, and I think, 'Gosh, she's okay.' I handled a lot, and I'm still here.

I have been shaped by my mistakes and disappointments - just as I have been shaped by my successes.

I didn't lead a very wise life, myself, but it was a full one and a grown-up one. You come of age very quickly through shipwreck and disaster.

Every bad thing that's happened to me has defined me, has shaped, has moulded me.