Olivia > Olivia's Quotes

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
― Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love | Guitar TAB Sheet Music Collection | Note-for-Note Transcriptions for Electric Guitar Players | Classic Psychedelic Rock Solos

“You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore...But let there be spaces in your togetherness...Love one another, but make not a bond of love. Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not of the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.”
― Kahlil Gibran

“If you're trapped in a room, and nobody is coming to save you, what can you do? You have to bang on the walls and break the windows. You have to climb out and save yourself. It's obvious, Li-ling, that crying doesn't help a person live.”
― Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing

“For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“As long as we lean on anything outside ourselves for support, we are going to be insecure. Most of us try to find support by leaning on all sorts of things - gold, books, learning, sensory stimulation - and if these things are taken away, we fall over. To the extent that we are dependent on these external supports, we grow weaker and more liable to upsets and misfortune.”
― Eknath Easwaran, The End of Sorrow

“Thinking for yourself and making your own decisions can be frightening. Letting go of other people’s expectations can leave you feeling empty for a time. And yet seeing yourself as an independent adult who can stand up for your own choices frees you to accept yourself as you are.”
― Ellen Bass, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

“Fortunately I have a son, my beautiful boy
Unfortunately he is a drug addict.
Fortunately he is in recovery.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is in recovery again.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is not dead.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“I would miss having Nic in my life. I would miss his funny phone messages and his humor, the stories, our talks, our walks, watching movies with him, dinners together, and the transcendent feeling between us that is love.
I would miss all of it.
I miss it now.
And here it sinks in: I don't have it now. I have not had it whenever Nic has been on drugs.
Nic is absent, only his shell remains. I have been afraid - terrified - to lose Nic, but I have lost him.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“As much as a child's birthday is important to a parent, as much as twenty one meant to me, a year in recovery means more.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“It may be true that suffering builds character, but it also damages people”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“An alcoholic will steal your wallet and lie about it. A drug addict will steal your wallet and then help you look for it.” Part of me is convinced that he actually believes that he will find it for you.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“It is still so easy to forget that addiction is not curable. It is a lifelong disease that can go into remission, that is manageable if the one who is stricken does the hard, hard work, but it is incurable.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“Fortunately I have a son, my beautiful boy.
Unfortunately he is a drug addict.
Fortunately he is in recovery.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is in recovery again.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is in recovery again.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is not dead.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“teenagers are almost a different species than the rest of us, particularly in social situations.”
― David Sheff, Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy

“No matter what we do, no matter how we agonize or obsess, we cannot choose for our children whether they live or die.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“We deny the severity of our loved one’s problem, not because we are naive, but because we can’t know.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“Nic is writing 'I am sorry', and I want to cry. No, I think, don't let him in again. No don't let him in again. No don't let him in again.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“Fortunately there is a beautiful boy, unfortunately he has a terrible disease. Fortunately there is love and joy, unfortunately there is pain and misery. Fortunately this story is not over.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“Giving cash to a using addict is like handing a loaded gun to someone on the verge of suicide.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“The miracles do not cancel out evil, but I accept evil in order to participate in the miraculous.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“I have always assumed that vigilance and love would guarantee a decent life for my children, but I”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy

“At my worst, I even resented Nic because an addict, at least when high, has a momentary respite from his suffering. There is no similar relief for parents or children or husbands or wives or others who love them.   Nic”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy