More than a victim, I am a survivor of a dehumanization process. Ingrid Betancourt More Quotes by Ingrid Betancourt More Quotes From Ingrid Betancourt I knew of no instruction manual for reaching a higher level of humanity and a greater wisdom. But I felt intuitively that laughter was the beginning of wisdom, as is was indispensable for survival. Ingrid Betancourt laughtersurvivalhumanity Our life capital is measured in seconds. Once those seconds are gone, we never get them back! Ingrid Betancourt secondsour-livesgone After six years without seeing one, I love just seeing a smile - every smile I see gives me hope. Ingrid Betancourt sixgivingyears It's important for me to fight for principles. But I am not willing to cope with the nastiness of politics anymore and the endless destructive confrontations that it leads to. Ingrid Betancourt fightingimportantprinciples Before I was abducted, I think that happiness was related to success. Nowadays happiness is related, for me, to rest, peace, serenity. Ingrid Betancourt relatedserenitythinking We're too passive. We're feeding on too much rubbish and I think we should strive to just shrug away that comfort zone and be able to get the most of each one of us, which means restructuring the way we deal with time and the priorities we have in life, so being what we want to be I think should be something that we should keep in mind. Ingrid Betancourt prioritiesmeanthinking Nothing that I can encounter today can be as bad as what is behind me. There are small things that used to upset me, but now I just think: Who cares? Ingrid Betancourt upsetencountersthinking I think there is this sensation of being deprived of something that you are entitled to have. Ingrid Betancourt deprivedentitledthinking I realized that I hated politics. I mean that is you know... I realized being in the jungle that what I had thought I could do, I mean changing the way politics were being done in Colombia, was not possible the way I wanted to do it - by confronting, by denouncing. Ingrid Betancourt donemeanway If my goal is to change Colombia, which it is because I really think Columbia has to change in many, many ways - I think it has to be a very profound, nearly spiritual maturing process in the Colombian society because I think you have to first be aware of what's happening and it's not easy because many people don't want to see what's happening. Ingrid Betancourt spiritualpeoplethinking Sometimes you hear in the United States that in Columbia there is a war between rich and poor, between people that are defending the poor and the rich. Ingrid Betancourt united-stateswarpeople The relationship with time changes when you're captive. Ingrid Betancourt time-changesyoutimerelationship In captivity, one loses every way of acting over little details which satisfy the essentials of life. Everything has to be asked for: permission to go to the toilet, permission to ask a guard something, permission to talk to another hostage - to brush your teeth, use toilet paper, everything is a negotiation. Ingrid Betancourt everythingdetailslifeway In the jungle, faith also became something very real; it helped me to understand what was happening to me and changed my questions. Ingrid Betancourt understandmejunglefaith I am not irresponsible. Ingrid Betancourt ami-amirresponsible The only thing I've settled in my mind is that I want to forgive, and forgiveness comes with forgetting. Ingrid Betancourt forgiveforgivenessmindwant I don't want to be submerged by depression. Ingrid Betancourt submergedwantdepression During my captivity, I felt abandoned by everyone apart from my family and supporters, because there was no part of the political spectrum that would want me released. Ingrid Betancourt mefamilypoliticalwant I carry the voices of all my family within me, and they were with me there in the jungle. Ingrid Betancourt carrymejunglefamily You don't master your fear. You're not able to say, 'I'm not going to be scared.' But what you can do is say, 'OK, I'm very very scared, but I have to do this and this and this.' Ingrid Betancourt yoursayyoufear
