“This life is a test, and we're put down here to make choices. The truth is, the …” — Elizabeth Smart

I see myself as a survivor, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm a survivor. To me, survivor implies strength, implies that I have been through something and I made it out the other side.

If I get to the end of my life, if I die, and I find out religion is one big lie, I still won't regret it because it's helped me to live a better life, to be a better person, to care about people, to believe in forgiveness, to believe in hope.

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.

I don't feel famous personally, and I feel like when most people get to know me, they're like, 'Oh, she's just the same as everybody else.'