Quotes from Mattie Stepanek

I would not have lasted a minute, literally a minute, on this Earth without God and angels by my side, because I was born. And right as I was born, I went into a respiratory arrest. So, big things that keep me going are friends and family, God. And another thing is looking forward to what's going to happen tomorrow.

I want to be remembered as a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played.

Maybe I wanted to have kids because you want to leave behind lessons, leave behind everything that matters to you. That's how you touch the world. But I have to reconsider what it's like to leave a legacy.

Every year, once a year, in Maryland, I go for a week and overnight camp with about 50 to 60 kids with muscular dystrophy, all ages, seven to 21. And it is really fun. I have some great friends there and wonderful counselors.

You know, it's kind of hard because I really - I see kids on their Rollerblades and their bikes, and just running around, climbing trees, and I used to do that. And I loved doing that.

We're divorced from my father because he did some mean and scary things to us.

The way of life is not as easy as some people think... like me.

A heartsong doesn't have to be a song in your heart. It doesn't have to be talking about love and peace. It can just be your message. It can be your feeling. Some people might even call it a conscience, even though that's not really what it is. It's your message, what you feel like you need to do.

People are fighting over how our heartsongs are different. But they don't need to be the same. That's the beauty. We are a mosaic of gifts. Each of us has our inner beauty no matter how we look.

I want to keep publishing books, and writing and spreading my heartsong through the world.

While we are living in the present, we must celebrate life every day, knowing that we are becoming history with every work, every action, every deed.

Remember to play after every storm.

There can be many different views of what Heaven is like, because Heaven is whatever makes each person eternally and fully happy.

Sad things happen. They do. But we don't need to live sad forever.