I love like a beaten child and I trust like an addict.

— Kris Kidd

I love you, but I got to love me more.

— Peggi Speers

I'm still not sure if I was a victim or not... and if I was, who was my abuser?

— Eskay Teel

In a condition of struggle and of failure we must be able to say "I must try harder" or "I must try differently." Both views are essential. . . A change in either makes for a change in outcome. When we say "I must try harder" we mean that the most relevant variable is something within us - intention, will, determination, "meaning it". . When we say "I must try differently" we mean that the most relevant variable lies in the situation within which intention is being exerted, that we should look to the environment, to the ways it pushes and pulls at us, and in this study find the means to alter that interaction.

— Allen Wheelis

In addition to reaching out for help, you will also need to reach within yourself. Your biggest ally will be your emotions. Through them, you will learn more about what really happened to you, how the abuse affected you, and what you need to do in order to heal. Your emotions will enable you to reclaim the self you long ago hid away.

— Beverly Engel

In order to break free from the chains that bind, one must take whatever action they can to disconnect internally from the larger systems of oppression, of which the family unit is merely a microcosm.

— Sil Lai Abrams

It is strange... the reasons one feels he doesn't deserve things.

— C. Kennedy

Memories demand attention, and these memories will have teeth.

— C. Kennedy

No matter what, the day didn't feel like Christmas to her. She remembered years ago, when she had been just a little kid, and the word had been enough to make her happy. Nothing stirred in her now. Her childhood felt like it had been in another life. As she sat alone in her room with tears drying to her face, she resolved that no matter what the calendar said, it wasn't Christmas. If it was, she'd feel happy, not depressed.

— Kayla Krantz

One can learn from what is not said.

— C. Kennedy