10 Quotes That Give Me Strength as a Person With a Chronic Illness
Throughout my battle with chronic illness, I have often found comfort, hope and strength in literature. These words have carried me through the darkest of times, and I feel that most people will be able to find strength in them, too. May they bless you as they have blessed me.
1. “Some women are lost in the fire. Some women are built from it.”
— Michelle K.
2. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is: It’s OK. It’s OK for me to be kind to myself. It’s OK to be wrong. It’s OK to get mad. It’s OK to be flawed. It’s OK to be happy. It’s OK to move on.”
— Hayley Williams
3. “Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.”
— Neil Gaiman
4. “You will be too much for some people. Those aren’t your people.”
— Karen Salmansohn
5. “Scars are souvenirs you never lose.”
— Goo Goo Dolls
6. “It’s a beautiful thing to have lungs that allow you to breathe air and legs that allow you to climb mountains, and it’s a shame that sometimes we don’t realize that that’s enough.”
7. “We are all dying, one breath at a time. Health will fade, bones will become brittle, and none of it will matter in the slightest. No stars burn for the same amount of time, but each is still uniquely beautiful. Nothing in this life is going to stop someone from loving you for your fire. You’re a different star, born to shine unlike the rest, but don’t for a second think it makes you any less beautiful.”
— William C. Hannan
8. “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”
— Frida Kahlo
9. “Whatever you are physically — male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy — all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.”
— Cassandra Clare
10. “I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent.”
— Susanna Kaysen
We want to hear your story. Become a Mighty contributor here.
Lead photo by Thinkstock Images
I’m from sunny South Africa. I am a 23-year-old speech and language therapy student at Stellenbosch University. I’ve been dying with a twist from 2013 when I was first diagnosed with myasthenia gravis — this diagnosis was later followed by one of depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome. I can speak four languages and I’m a lover of all things wild.
retha-de-wet