African American Quotes: Octavia E. Butler

I’ve yet to meet a person who’s had a perfect life. Each and everyone of us has challenges, and they start from the moment of birth, when we’re expelled from the warm womb into a cold room and we breath in that first startling breath. We’re here today because we breath and we continue to breath.

Each one of us fall down from time to time, whether it’s a physical, emotional, or mental. Then we get back up again, learning from our experience. Sometimes we’re a little more cautious. Other times, we’re all the more determined to succeed. Whether we take the cautious route or the embolden route, one thing is for certain… we continue.

“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.”
― Octavia E. Butler

The line above from Butler’s novel Parable of the Talents, gives me hope that even when we do fall and find ourselves cautious, that we find the strength and willpower to still embolden ourselves. Though we may be faced with barriers, challenges, and even failures, we have the ability to empower ourselves. We can rise from the ashes and leave them behind, stronger and renewed with a new sense of hope.

Let’s not become complacent or allow fear to keep us in the filth we may find ourselves in. Let us rise above it on and strive for our dreams, dreams that can only become reality if we find our wings and take flight to reach them.