Ingrid Betancourt Quotes

I don't consider myself a survivor; that's someone who has gone through something terrible.

Rape is the most humiliating thing that can be done to you; it's the most vulnerable that you can be. But once I realized that, I became a stronger person and faced all my fears.

I'm a survivor, at least that's what everyone tells me.

We do not invest in victims, we invest in survivors.

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise

I think scars are like battle wounds - beautiful, in a way. They show what you've been through and how strong you are for coming out of it.

I have a different kind of experience than other girls had. I've had to face a lot of different styles and adjust to them. I had to face a lot of bad situations and come back. I've had to fight with my eyes swollen shut and my nose broken and bloody.

It is hard work to be good when you are very little and very hungry, and have many sticks to beat you, and no mother's lips to kiss you.

We've had drive-by shootings. I've been spat on, slapped, shot at. One guy tried to stab me with a broken beer bottle. But the way we look at it, if people do the worst they can, we'll still wake up in glory.

In my stories, I controlled what happened in a way I couldn't in real life. My characters lived through the horror and degradation of the cruelty of others and they not only survived, they thrived. They gave me hope and laughter, and they kept me going in spite of everything else. They were my heroes.

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

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

The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.

I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive.

My mother is a survivor who's had a lot of things happen in her life that have been very trying.

I'm not interested in playing the victim. I like stories about survivors.

My heart has been stolen too - but I've gone and got it back every single time!

I've overcome physical and mental brutality - and fought back.

Oh, I'm a survivor. My whole life has been surviving.

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.

A high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.

We were not defeated. We had been refugees. Now we were freedom fighters.

I see myself as a survivor, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm a survivor. To me, survivor implies strength, implies that I have been through something and I made it out the other side.

I'm a survivor. I'm a messenger.