“Getting through life requires courage. Staying true to your principles requires courage. Falling down and getting back up requires courage. Starting again requires courage. Going, staying, persevering—it all requires courage.”

“This is not the time to abdicate your courage. It’s not the time to lie down and wait for some so-called savior to come along. This is the time to see yourself as smart, capable, and courageous, no matter your age, no matter what you have been through.”

“Never doubt that you can rise, even when you feel like you have dissolved. You are here to rise. This I know for sure.”

“We can’t settle with the status quo in any area of our lives because if we do, we will become numb—numb to joy, to hope, and to possibilities… I share this just in case someone is telling you to settle, or to not push so hard, or to not dream so big. Settling shouldn’t be in our vocabulary.”

Marie Shriver