Anna Deavere Smith Quotes

Reform comes in the wake of disaster.

I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.

Disasters impel a nation to rise

In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these

Crisis for others is a source of despair. For me, it's an opportunity to bring reform.

Sometimes, disaster can inspire ingenuity.

Everything changed after Katrina. It's a new New Orleans now and I think it's better. It was a wake-up call and it rebuilt and cleaned up the city. It all happened for a reason. I'm now grateful for Katrina.

Everyday life is a disaster, and disaster can liberate us.

Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.

And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

But you can build a future out of anything. A scrap, a flicker. The desire to go forward, slowly, one foot at a time. You can build an airy city out of ruins.

Lives fall apart when they need to be rebuilt.

Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos.

The resilience of these people is amazing. I am a great believer that the sooner we get things up and running in terms of sport in this area, the better.

When we rebuild a house, we are rebuilding a home. When we recover from disaster, we are rebuilding lives and livelihoods.

No matter how bad things are, they can always be worse. So what if my stroke left me with a speech impediment? Moses had one, and he did all right.

Out of economic hardship can come change - we are suddenly cast onto our wits and our talents and our resources and our strengths, as we lose all the choices we once had.

There is energy and power in a crisis.

If you have a lemon, make lemonade.

Something good comes out of every crisis.

Although many people in Aceh are still poor and vulnerable, the province resembles nothing like the place I saw the day after the tsunami hit.

9/11 occurs, and you're going to rebuild, and after awhile, the memory will be there, but there will be something new there, and different, and functioning, and electric.

We need someone to turn things around in America.

Good things are often birthed from adversity.

I want to make lemonade out of the lemons that were dealt to me.