Braver Than You Think Quotes

“When the road stretches long and dark and ragged, it’s sweetness that remains at the end of it.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“It shows me once again how regret must be risked in order to discover delight. Because the result is wilder, fiercer, and more exhilarating than you’ve imagined. And you? You are much braver than you think.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“if I have broken bread with you, I trust you. We have nourished ourselves at the same table. Therefore, there can be no fighting, no animosity between us. There will only be goodness.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“I don’t want to be a parent if I can’t be fully present and mentally aware. I don’t want my child to watch me disintegrate the way I witnessed my mom’s decay. And I don’t want to pass the disease on. Parenthood is an enormous risk. However, the choice feels simple in this living room, where the wallpaper peels and the roof sags with mold. I wonder what I am waiting for. I wonder if not taking a chance is, in fact, the bigger risk.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“Nobody warned me about this part. When I envisioned my trip, I imagined exciting adventures, exotic locales, a jet-set lifestyle. I never thought grief and doubt would climb into my backpack and come with me. I pictured standing at the top of the Sun Gate, looking down at Machu Picchu, without ever thinking about the steps it would take to get there. This is the curse of wanderlust, when the postcard image becomes a brutal reality.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“There’s an old saying in South Africa that a single straw from a broom can be broken, but together they are strong. That concept is known as ubuntu, the philosophy that we are all part of an interconnected web, rooted in acts of kindness and generosity. It means the way we treat others is more important than our individual accomplishments. Essentially, you can’t be human all by yourself.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime

“Many times I wondered why my mom continued to survive, why her body pressed on without her in it, why we couldn’t let this vibrant, beautiful woman go with dignity instead of acting as bystanders to her decline. I’ve learned our culture is not necessarily one of compassion. We champion those who suffer, even while we don’t want to suffer ourselves.”
― Maggie Downs, Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime