The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
- 9,764 ratings
- November 4th 2008
by William Morrow Paperbacks
(first published 1988)
Quotes by Ellen Bass
"to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again."
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again."
2,603 likes
"So often survivors have had their experiences denied, trivialized, or distorted. Writing is an important avenue for healing because it gives you the opportunity to define your own reality. You can say: This did happen to me. It was that bad. It was the fault & responsibility of the adult. I was—and am—innocent.” The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass & Laura Davis"
221 likes
"Everyone has the right to tell the truth about her own life."
58 likes
"There is comfort in knowing that you don’t have to pretend anymore, that you are going to do everything within your power to heal."
28 likes
"I know you're in a world of pain, but that pain will lessen. At the beginning you can't see that. You can only see your pain and you think it will never go away.
But the nature of pain is that it changes— it changes like a sunset. At first, it's this intense red-orange in the sky, and then it starts getting softer and soften. The texture of pain changes as you work through it. And then one day, you wake up and realize that life isn't just about working through your incest; it's about living, too.
- survivor of child sexual abuse"
But the nature of pain is that it changes— it changes like a sunset. At first, it's this intense red-orange in the sky, and then it starts getting softer and soften. The texture of pain changes as you work through it. And then one day, you wake up and realize that life isn't just about working through your incest; it's about living, too.
- survivor of child sexual abuse"
17 likes
Books by Ellen Bass


Like a Beggar
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The Human Line
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No More Masks!: An Anthology of Poems by Women
- 256 ratings
- April 1st 1973
by Anchor Books
(first published 1973)

Mules of Love
- 240 ratings
- April 1st 2002
by BOA Editions Ltd.
(first published January 1st 2002)

I Never Told Anyone: Writings by Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
- 229 ratings
- April 10th 1991
by William Morrow Paperbacks
(first published August 1983)

Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse
- 203 ratings
- February 28th 1990
by HarperPerennial
(first published November 1st 1988)

Beginning to Heal
- 176 ratings
- March 1st 1994 by HarperPrism

Indigo
- 169 ratings
- April 7th 2020 by Copper Canyon Press

Free Your Mind
- 49 ratings
- May 30th 1996 by Harper Perennial

Ellen Bass
- Born: Philadelphia, PA, The United States.
- Description: Ellen Bass is an American poet and author.
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