Loung Ung quotes:

In my heart I know the truth, but my mind cannot accept the reality of what this all means.

From 1975 to 1979 - through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor - the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the country's population.

I am six years old and instead of celebrating with birthday cakes, I chew on a piece of charcoal.

In America there's a saying that children should be seen and not heard, .. In Cambodia, children should not be seen nor heard because you would not survive.

Voting is not only our right, it is our power. When we vote, we take back our power to choose, to speak up, and to stand with those who support us and each other.

I think how the world is still somehow beautiful even when I feel no joy at being alive within it.

To all the survivors out there, I want them to know that we are stronger and more resilient than we ever knew. We survived, that should be enough but it isn't. We must work hard to become whole again, to fill our soul with love and inspiration, to live the life that was intended for us before it was disrupted by war and horrors, and help rebuild a world that is better than the one we had just left.

When I arrived in America, though I had left the war physically far behind, in my mind, the soldiers were still chasing to kill me, my stomach was always hungry, and my fear and distrust kept me from opening up to new friendships. I thought the war was over when I left Cambodia, but I realize now that for survivors and all those involved, the war is never over just because the guns have fallen silent.

Courage is when you dare to be yourself, in whatever ways you want to be - to not be afraid, to just do it.