Privacy is so sacred, and any time a victim is returned, a survivor is found and rescued, privacy is one of the greatest gifts we can give them because if they decide to share, that's up to them, and they will come forward.
Yesterday from my office window I saw a crippled girl negotiating her way across the street, her shoulders squarely braced. At each jerky movement her hair flew back like an annunciatory angel, and I saw she was the only dancer on the street.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the resilience and determination of a girl overcoming her challenges, symbolizing courage in adversity.
In this quote, Elizabeth Smart describes a moment of inspiration observed from her office window, where a crippled girl crosses the street with a strong sense of resolve. The imagery of her movements and the comparison to a dancer not only emphasizes her bravery in facing physical limitations but also encapsulates the beauty and grace that can emerge from struggle. This portrayal serves as a reminder that courage often shines in the most unexpected places.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming challenges, one could use this quote to illustrate the spirit of resilience.
More from Elizabeth Smart
All quotes →I'm grateful for rain because, when I was kidnapped, that meant that I had something to drink.
How can I be kind? How can I find bird-relief in the nest-building of day-to-day? Necessity supplies no velvet wing with which to escape. I am indeed and mortally pierced with the seeds of love.
That happened to me, but I'm so much more than that girl that was kidnapped.
Even when I get on airplanes, very often, as I walk down the aisle, I notice a lot of people staring or whispering. I recognize the fact that yes, to a lot of people, I will always be that 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped and who was held captive.
I think forgiveness is probably one of the greatest forms of self-love there is because you don't do forgiveness for anybody else. My captors will never care if I forgive them... It will not make a day of difference to them at all, but it will make a huge difference to me.
Similar quotes
One cannot run from a challenge without losing. To flee is signing a death warrant to dignity and character, and, having run, there is no return; one is a weakling forever. Meeting a challenge, though one may be defeated, gives strength, character, and a certain assurance that regardless of outcome, one will survive or go down fighting.
We all need to say 'disabled' - because guess what? There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a disability. It makes you different. And there's nothing wrong with being different.
We have to stand up for these issues when it's tough, and that's what I've done. I did it when I was in the state legislature, sponsoring the Illinois version of the DREAM Act, so that children who were brought here through no fault of their own are able to go to college, because we actually want well-educated kids in our country who are able to succeed and become part of this economy and part of the American dream.
When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.
I landed in New Jersey, where I could barely speak English, and I had to figure out what a short brown kid was going to do in this big white world.
Am I afraid of high notes? Of course I am afraid. What sane man is not?