“It's a beautiful heart, not a perfect body, that leads to a beautiful life.”

“I have accepted myself in a world that does not accept me, because I have learned - and more than any of the lessons of my accident, this is the one I wish I could teach everybody - that our hearts matter most. Your heart matters most, so be gentler and more patient with yourself, and their hearts matter most, too, so be kinder and more compassionate to others. It's a beautiful heart, not a perfect body, that leads to a beautiful life.”

“I know, now, without a doubt that the true source of happiness, self-worth, and authentic beauty doesn't come from the outside. Women are constantly being persuaded to want something unachievable, to look younger or thinner and above all to fit in because being different is too painful and embarassing. I have accepted myself in a world that does not accept me, because I have learned [ . . . ] that our hearts matter most... It's a beautiful heart, not a perfect body, that leads to a beautiful life.”

“Creativity leads others to where I lead you, to an unseen beauty, so ineffable its very beauty destroys itself...”

“Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.~Waddington”

“It is not enough for poems to be beautiful; they must be affecting, and must lead the heart of the hearer as they will.”