Quotes by Louis Zamperini

Yet a part of you still believes you can fight and survive no matter what your mind knows. Its not so strange. Where theres still life, theres still hope. What happens is up to God.

The world, wed discovered, doesnt love you like your family loves you.

(On surviving on the raft for 47 days) We had truly made it on a wing and prayer.

The one who forgives never brings up the past to that persons face. When you forgive, its like it never happened. True forgiveness is complete and total.

God knew my needs and took care accordingly.

(after asking Christ into his heart) I waited. And then, true to His promise, He came into my heart and my life. The moment was more than remarkable; it was the most realistic experience Id ever had. Im not sure what I expected; perhaps my life or my sins or a great white light would flash before my eyes; perhaps Id feel a shock like being hit by a bolt of lightning. Instead, I felt no tremendous sensation, just a weightlessness and an enveloping calm that let me know that Christ had come into my heart.

Positive self-esteem must be preceded by self-respect. To get self-respect you have to do something good.

The great commandment is that we preach the gospel to every creature, but neither God nor the Bible says anything about forcing it down peoples throats.

All I knew was that hate was so deadly as any poison and did no one any good. You had to control and eliminate it, if you could.

To live, a man needs food, water, and a sharp mind.

The Bible speaks of the Word of God as added. Sometimes its planted by the wayside, and nothing grows there. Sometimes its sown among the thorns and represents the person who makes the decision an then goes back to his old life of bars and chasing women or whatever. A third seed is sown among the rocks. Theres sand and dirt between the rocks, and when it rains youll see a stalk of green coming up. But on the first day with sunshine it wilts because there is no room for roots.The fourth seed is planted on fertile soil, and finally it takes hold and has a chance to grow and live. Thats what happened to me.

It was all in His hands now - as it had always been.

I was raised to face any challenge.

All I want to tell young people is that youre not going to be anything in life unless you learn to commit to a goal. You have to reach deep within yourself to see if you are willing to make the sacrifices.

Id made it this far and refused to give up because all my life I had always finished the race.

Someone who doesnt make the (Olympic) team might weep and collapse. In my day no one fell on the track and cried like a baby. We lost gracefully. And when someone won, he didnt act like hed just become king of the world, either. Athletes in my day were simply humble in our victory.I believe we were more mature then...Maybe its because the media puts so much pressure on athletes; maybe its also the money. In my day we competed for the love of the sport...In my day we patted the guy who beat us on the back, wished him well, and that was it.

Thats one thing you learn in sports. You dont give up you fight to the finish.

Hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, youre not hurting the person you hate. Youre hurting yourself. And thats a healing. Actually, its a real healing, forgiveness.

All I did was pray to God, every day. In prison camp, the main prayer was, Get me home alive, God, and Ill seek you and serve you. I came home, got wrapped up in the celebration, and forgot about the hundreds of promises Id made to God.