14 Cheryl Strayed Quotes That Will Inspire You to Live Boldly

Updated on 9/6/2020 at 6:15 PM

Novelist, memoirist, and essayist Cheryl Strayed doesn't just have nice words to offer — she has real-life experience to back her advice up. At the age of 26, when Strayed was recently divorced and reeling from the death of her mother, she decided to embark on a three-month, 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Despite the fact that she had no company, no means of communication, and very little hiking experience, Strayed completed the journey, and her story ended up becoming a bestselling memoir (which was then casually turned into a movie that starred Reese Witherspoon).

She's also published a novel, an essay collection, and a collection of quotes, and — even if you're not looking to take on the Pacific Crest Trail solo — Cheryl Strayed's best quotes about bravery and acceptance are sure to give you strength.

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar

From Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar:

"Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room."
"I'll never know, and neither will you, of the life you don't choose. We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was important and beautiful and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore."
"You cannot convince people to love you. This is an absolute rule. No one will ever give you love because you want him or her to give it. Real love moves freely in both directions. Don't waste your time on anything else."
"Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal."

Brave Enough

From Brave Enough: A Mini Instruction Manual For the Soul:

"Hello, fear. Thank you for being here. You're my indication that I'm doing what I need to do."
"We do not have the right to feel helpless. We must help ourselves. After destiny has delivered what it delivers, we are responsible for our lives."
"Stop asking yourself what you want, what you desire, what interests you. Ask yourself instead: What has been given to me? Ask: What do I have to give back? Then give it."
"This is not the moment to wilt into the underbrush of your insecurities. You've earned the right to grow."

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

From Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail:

"I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me."
"I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it."
"Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn't long before I actually wasn't afraid."
"How wild it was, to let it be."

Torch

From Torch:

"It's a long life, sweetheart, and time heals all wounds."
"Work hard. Do good. Be incredible!"