Lessons from the Mountain Quotes

“My wish for you is to appreciate every lesson, and know you have the strength to climb your own mountain. May you enjoy every rock and difficult step, and remember you can always just sit and enjoy the view.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“The FDA’s own scientists testified there wasn’t enough long-term data and research to prove safety. There were still the concerns of what exactly happens when an implant ruptures, where the silicone goes, and what it does when it gets there. There was a ten-year study, but only a few years’ worth of data was presented by one of the manufacturers to prove safety rates. Suspicious, isn’t it? This from a medical device in existence for over thirty years? So why after three decades can’t the manufacturers produce more than three years of data?”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“to retirement, he and Colleen decided he’d stay. John did advise Dow Corning they should withdraw the devices from the market until proper testing could be done, but they refused, claiming the move would be construed as admission the claims were true.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“The press conference was at one of the oldest historical establishments in Washington, D.C.—the Old Ebbitt Grill. I didn’t have time to enjoy the ambience and significance of the pub once frequented by Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Harding, and Theodore Roosevelt.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“It was the beginning of realizing that constant doing wouldn’t make it turn out my way. I made a lot of mistakes and learned that trying to control the outcome of a situation doesn’t make it work.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“One day, the actress Dana Hill, my dear friend, bought me the book No Turn Unstoned, by Diana Rigg. It is a compilation of actors’, playwrights’, sets’, and costumes’ worst reviews. It has terrible reviews of award-winning actors ranging from Sarah Bernhardt to Lord Laurence Olivier. I pored over the pages, comforted to know at least I was in good company. This experience taught me something about myself, though—an even better lesson. I realized I had stored up and placed downstage, front and center, all the negative reviews I’d ever received in my life, while I’d pushed the positives upstage, hidden behind the scenery. Eventually I would have to find my way out from behind the backdrop.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“Apparently, someone had studied American history—remember “Uncle Sam’s Camels”? At one point in time, the army had tried to use them; it was a fiasco. It had spawned a legend that camels couldn’t get along with horses or mules.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“I heard more dirty jokes around that table than my parents would have a heart for. Some kids learn in the back alley, the streets, or the school yard. I learned from the crew, and on the set, including at that table. I didn’t know what many of the jokes meant, but I laughed, anyway, then tried to figure them out later.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“better and felt embarrassed at how it turned out. I was so used to a family atmosphere when I worked, I innocently expected all other sets to be the same. Lesson learned: not all actors are committed to the ensemble; found out more than once later on that was true.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“I find it ironic that I only developed the rash on my scalp, not on my face or arms or anywhere else. Outwardly, I was still perfect. Could I have somehow willed the rash not to be where it would be visible on camera or obvious to the world? I only allowed imperfection where it didn’t hold up production.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain

“allowed. In those days of unease, it grounded me to be part of nature and escape to the quiet peace under the sea. There was unfounded calm in buoyancy, floating with the tide, the sound of my own breath, the regulator releasing my old breaths to the surface to rejoin the air that sustains. The stillness of it took me to a place I would later recall in meditations. Return to nature, then you’ll see, how fun it is to be set free, I wrote in my poem book. I still return to nature when I feel off my path. Water, air, and fire return me to myself.”
― Mary McDonough, Lessons from the Mountain