Self Advocacy Quotes

“I hope you won't take this the wrong way . . ." is another bell ringer for me.

I sense the mealymouthed attacker approaching so if I cannot flee, I explain in no uncertain voice if there is even the slightest chance that I might take a statement the wrong way, be assured that I will do so. I advise the speaker that it would be better to remain silent than to try to collect the speaker's bruised feelings, which I intend to leave in pieces scattered on the floor.

I am never proud to participate in violence, yet I know that each of us must care enough for ourselves to be ready and able to come to our own self-defense.”
― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

“As children, we tolerate working conditions that we'd find intolerable as adults: the constant exposure of our attainment to a hostile audience; the motivation by threat instead of encouragement (and big threats, too: if you don't do this, you'll ruin your whole future life . . .); the social world in which you're mocked and teased, your most embarrassing desires exposed, your new-formed body held up for the kind of scrutiny that would destroy an adult. Often, during childhood, this comes with physical threats, too—being pushed and shoved on the playground, punched and kicked. The eternal menace that something more savage is waiting around the corner on your way home. Imagine how that would feel to you as an adult: that perpetual threat to your bodily integrity and your mental wellbeing. We would never stand for it, but we did as children because it was expected of us and we didn't know any better.”
― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

“You owe it to yourself to stand up and advocate for yourself. To not agree to what is harmful to you. To protect yourself from further bullying, manipulation, gaslighting, and abuse.”
― Dana Arcuri CTRC, Toxic Siblings: A Survival Guide to Rise Above Sibling Abuse & Heal Trauma

“Energetic currency decides our destination.”
― Bella Bloom

“Our society doesn't actually benefit from our healing, from a Black woman recognizing her innate worth and living from that truth.”
― Jasmine Marie, Black Girls Breathing: Heal from Trauma, Combat Chronic Stress, and Find Your Freedom

“If you don't order, you won't be served.”
― Ethan Castro

“She doesn't care about social hierarchies, or social etiquette. If she disagrees with you, your friends or your family, you're likely to hear about it.”
― Chloé Hayden, Different, Not Less: A Neurodivergent's Guide to Embracing Your True Self and Finding Your Happily Ever After

“You are Not Broken. You were never taught the full story.
You were never broken. Your body has been trying to adapt all along.”
― Darine Moukalled MD

“If you have a puzzle fully assembled and you take one of the pieces and throw it away because it was damaged, the puzzle will never be whole again. Some things can’t be replicated — and neither can the systems of thought we abandon before understanding them.”
― Marie Roberts De La Parra