“The media can be challenging, but at the same time, without the media, I would not have been able to share my personal story. Often the media can bring beauty and encouragement to people’s lives…”

My strength came from my relationship with Christ and from the love and encouragement of my family and friends.

I wouldn’t change what happened to me because then I wouldn’t have this chance, in front of all of you, to embrace more people than I ever could have with two arms.

I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe He gave me the passion and determination to continue surfing. You fall off the horse, and you get back on. I had to go for it.

Life is full of what-ifs. You can’t let it hold you back. If you do, you’re not really living at all… just kind of going through the motions with no meaning

To lose your everyday life of surfing and being creative on waves, enjoying the ocean – that’s scary to me. It was essential to at least try surfing again and get out there and see how it went.

God will give us the strength to be able to handle things. I mean, you can try to do it on your own, and sometimes you can pull off some stuff, but in the long run, it’s much easier with Him by our side.

Compassion can drive us to do amazing things and give us perspective.

Like, with one arm I know I can surf, but competitive surfing can be really frustrating, and sometimes you don’t do as well as you want to. It can be discouraging at times. But whenever I do get frustrated, I just focus on God.

It’s hard for me to describe the joy I felt after I stood up and rode wave in for the first time after the attack. I was incredibly thankful and happy inside. The tiny bit of doubt that would sometimes tell me you’ll never surf again was gone in one wave.

It’s been amazing to touch people’s lives.

My favorite thing [about surfing] is being creative on waves; it’s like an art form. You can do whatever you want on that wave if you work hard at it and just have fun out there.

Your looks do not define who you are.

Losing an arm is kinda lame at one point, but at the same time, so much good has come out of it.

The author describes how impressed she was with the detailed storyboards that outlined her movie – “not just sketches, but real art”. She then describes a Hawaiian sunset as, “God painting His storyboard on the sky”.

You don’t need easy, you just need possible.

Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it’s my passion, my love and it’s a part of me.

The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.

The media – they want to rush everything. They want to give their seedy opinions without knowing all the facts.

The media has a lot of power, and everything I do is what I want people to see, whether it’s putting out a new single, dropping a new album, doing a new movie or new collab with a designer – this is what I want people to see.

I just think that the media is just making things up. I don’t really pay attention.

Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn’t change people’s habits. It just kept them inside the house.

Television is like the American toaster, you push the button and the same thing pops up everytime.

With the press there is no ‘off the record.’

Power will be maintained by the groovy guy or gal who gets the most media coverage for his sleaze. Naturally, his friends in various businesses will do okay, too.