When I was 17, I went to Brigham Young University. That was the first time I had set foot in a classroom. Tara Westover More Quotes by Tara Westover More Quotes From Tara Westover We'd had books in my house growing up, but we had never had anything like lectures. I had never written an essay for my mother. I had never taken an exam. Because I was working a lot as a kid, I just hadn't elected to read that much. Tara Westover nevergrowing-upmotherhouse I don't really feel like I belong anywhere. Tara Westover belongreallyfeellike During my first semester of college, I raised my hand in a class and asked the professor to define a word I didn't know. The word was holocaust, and I had to ask because, until that moment, I had never heard of it. Tara Westover neverknowmomentcollege Forgiveness isn't just the absence of anger. I think it's also the presence of self-love, when you actually begin to value yourself. Tara Westover yourselfyouforgivenessanger It's very difficult to continue to believe in yourself and that you're a good person when the people who know you best don't. Tara Westover bestgoodyoubelieve-in-yourself My brother once lit his leg on fire. And after, when the fire was finally out, his leg was covered in third-degree burns. And we made the decision - or my parents did - not to take him to the hospital but to treat that at home with a salve my mother made of comfrey and lobelia. Tara Westover brotherfiremotherhome There's a sense of sovereignty that comes from life on a mountain. Tara Westover sensesovereigntymountainlife Not knowing my birthday had never seemed strange. I knew I'd been born near the end of September, and each year I picked a day, one that didn't fall on a Sunday because it's no fun spending your birthday in church. Tara Westover daychurchbirthdayfall We think about education as a stepping stone into a higher socio-economic class, into a better job. And it does do those things. But I don't think that's what it really is. I experienced it as getting access to different ideas and perspectives and using them to construct my own mind. Tara Westover betterjobmindeducation When you abuse someone, you limit their perspective, and you trap them in your view of them or your view of the world. Tara Westover viewyouperspectiveworld I think a lot of people have grown up with the idea that they can't learn things themselves. They think they need an institution to provide them with knowledge and teach them how to do things. I couldn't disagree more. Tara Westover needthinkpeopleknowledge So, I was born and raised the youngest of seven children on this really beautiful mountain in Southern Idaho. But my dad had some radical beliefs. And because of those beliefs, we were isolated. So I was never allowed to go to school or to the doctor. Tara Westover doctormountainbeautifulchildren I had grown up preparing for the Days of Abomination, watching for the sun to darken, for the moon to drip as if with blood. Tara Westover watchingmoonsunblood I think if you're going to abuse someone, you really have to convince them of two things. First, you have to normalise what you're doing, convince them that it's not that bad. And the second thing is to convince them that they deserve it in some way. Tara Westover badthinkyouway You can miss someone every day and still be glad you don't have to see them. Tara Westover every-daysomeonedayyou My family was, I think, a bit more radical than most Mormons, especially on the question of gender. So in my mind, growing up, there wasn't ever any question of what my future would look like. I would get married when I was 17 or 18. And I would be given some corner of the farm, and my husband would put a house on it, and we would have kids. Tara Westover lookfuturefamilymind My family always spent the warm months bottling fruit for storage, which Dad said we'd need in the Days of Abomination. Tara Westover warmfruitdadfamily An education is not so much about making a living as making a person. Tara Westover personaboutlivingeducation I taught myself algebra and a little grammar, and somehow I scraped a high enough score on the ACT to be admitted to Brigham Young University, even though I had no formal education. Tara Westover myselfuniversityenougheducation My parents would say to me, 'You can teach yourself anything better than someone else can teach it to you.' That was the whole ethos of my family. Tara Westover yourselfmeyoufamily
