Cancer Survivor Quotes

I feel so fortunate and grateful to be a survivor of breast cancer. I see it as a gift. ~ Olivia Newton-John

I am a breast cancer survivor. I was intrigued to learn how many people prefer to talk to someone if they are familiar with their face, like an actor or a politician. So, I began traveling around the country and doing speeches. ~ Diahann Carroll

Cancer, like any other illness, is a bore. ~ Alan Bennett

Our meaning is to make our little planet Earth a better place to live, to stop wars, disarm nuclear missiles, to stop diseases, AIDS, plague, cancer and to stop pollution. ~ Uri Geller

Progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution, and it was designed to eat the Constitution, to progress past the Constitution. ~ Glenn Beck

I am about to get involved with the biggest cancer hospital in Norway. They are building a fitness center to work with patients. I will be a consultant. ~ Grete Waitz

I do a lot of races for the cure for breast cancer. ~ Mary Ann Mobley

Health is real wealth and peace of mind is real happiness. Plant seeds which will bear colorful flowers and make the garden of your life bloom with their fragrance. ~ Sanchita Pandey

Heaven is freakin' not ready for me! - seven-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner in Never Leave Your Wingman ~ Deana J. Driver

I'm never going to give in. I'm never going to give up, and I will fight back with every breath I have.
- Dionne Warner, seven-time cancer survivor and subject of Never Leave Your Wingman ~ Deana J. Driver

I didn't know anything about breast cancer when I got it. ~ Rue McClanahan

Both of our daughters, Debbie and Bonnie, are also cancer survivors. ~ David Wilkerson

Cancer is a disease where the patient can contribute a great deal of help himself if he or she can retain their morale and their hopes. ~ George Carman

Even though I'm not running anymore, we still have to try to find a cure for cancer. Other people should go ahead and try to do their own thing now. ~ Terry Fox

Me: Well, you see, I, uh, I'm a cancer survivor. Person #1: And how's that working out for you? Me: Well, you see, I, uh, used to have leukemia. Person #2: Dude, how come you're not, like, BALD? Me: Well, you see, I, uh, I had acute lymphocytic lymphoma when I was five. Person #3: Whoa. THAT must'a sucked. I once had my tonsils out ... ~ Jordan Sonnenblick

Cancer Boy probably has the saddest, noblest, sweetest heart of any character I've ever done. ~ Bruce McCulloch

As a cancer survivor, I am very aware of how many wasted minutes I don't have. The surest way to waste what is left of your life is to worry about what might happen or what might have been. ~ Shelley Hamlin

I don't think makeup is rocket science or a cure for cancer. ~ Cindy Crawford

I have friends who are going through chemotherapy, and they make the darkest, most hideous cancer jokes you've ever heard. ~ Kathy Griffin

Humanity abhors, above all things, a vacuum in itself, and your class will be cut off from humanity as the surgeon cuts the cancer and alien growth from the body. ~ James Larkin

The whole encounter was surreal. No one had mentioned cancer. I hadn't requested special treatment for Jacob. Yet he'd just nabbed a private meeting with an actor from his favorite movie. I would later ask Mike, the comic book store owner, what had prompted him to invite Jacob to the supper and a private meeting with Mr. Bulloch.
It was Jeremy at the door. He recognized something in Jacob. Jeremy
is a cancer survivor. ~ Mary Potter Kenyon

Our purpose in this project is to begin to turn that fear of cancer, actually America's greatest fear, into a future, not only free of fear, but full of hope. ~ Andrew Von Eschenbach

I am capable, confident, intelligent, resilient and in charge. Health and happiness are my birthrights and I accept with gratitude. ~ Kris Carr

My veins are filled, once a week with a Neapolitan carpet cleaner distilled from the Adriatic and I am as bald as an egg. However I still get around and am mean to cats. ~ John Cheever

Researches at Yale found a connection between brain cancer and work environment. The No. 1 most dangerous job for developing brain cancer? Plutonium hat model. ~ Jimmy Fallon

My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer? ~ Joyce Maynard

We normally know we're getting older when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded; unless you're a cancer survivor! Then we love people reminding us! ~ Chris Geiger

Being a breast cancer survivor, as I like to call myself - it will be twenty years next year - I did it to make it possible for women to do regular self breast examinations. It's really important - and, it makes common sense: you know your body better than the doctor does who only sees you once a year, you know? ~ Olivia Newton-John

You're actually each other's wingman. You never leave your partner vulnerable. - Graham Warner, husband of fun-loving seven-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner ~ Deana J. Driver

I would never call myself a cancer survivor because I think it devalues those who do not survive. There's this whole mythology that people bravely battle their cancer and then they become survivors. Well, the ones who don't survive may be just as brave, you know, just as courageous, wonderful people. ~ Barbara Ehrenreich

I'm not playing 'Survivor' when someone I love has cancer. ~ Jenna Morasca

Lance Armstrong, the famous cyclist and more importantly, cancer survivor, has said 'if you ever get a second chance for something, you've got to go all the way.' ~ Michael N. Castle

Regardless of one victory, two victories, four victories, there's never been a victory by a cancer survivor. That's a fact that hopefully I'll be remembered for. ~ Lance Armstrong

Well, right now, technically, I have no breast cancer. ~ Lynn Redgrave

The truth is, if you asked me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son, and a father. ~ Lance Armstrong

In the early 1950s, Fanny Rosenow, a breast cancer survivor and cancer advocate, called the New York Times to post an advertisement for a support group for women with breast cancer. Rosenow was put through, puzzlingly, to the society editor of the newspaper. When she asked about placing her announcement, a long pause followed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Rosenow, but the Times cannot publish the word breast or the word cancer in its pages. "Perhaps," the editor continued, "you could say there will be a meeting about diseases of the chest wall." Rosenow ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee

My mom, she's a breast cancer survivor and because of that I had started getting mammograms once a year, starting at age 30. ~ Kate Walsh

Life itself will protect you. You will graduate to living a better life than you have ever lived till now! Your treatment and patience has paid off! You are life's own student and have seen life from all the angles. You have come full circle and now it is time to rejoice. Say you are absolutely fine and it will be granted to you! ~ Sanchita Pandey

You can be a victim of cancer, or a survivor of cancer. It's a mindset. ~ Dave Pelzer

I have been extremely lucky; I am a person who is currently living with a cancer that is under control. ~ Geraldine Ferraro

Happiness and sorrow are two sides of the same coin called life. Whatever befalls you, walk on unattached. ~ Sanchita Pandey

Having cancer, fighting cancer, and beating cancer have been THE defining events in my life, and though it was the most terrifying, I know that it has changed me for the better, forever. ~ Brett M. Cordes

I could be a bit of a pain in the arse. Since I've come out of my cancer, I must say I intend to be even more of a pain in the arse. ~ Harold Pinter

I haven't talked much about being an ovarian cancer survivor because I don't really want to define myself that way. ~ Kathy Bates

For people who don't know me, I practiced medicine in Casper, Wyoming for 25 years as an orthopedic surgeon, taking care of families in Wyoming. I've been chief of staff of the largest hospital in our state. My wife is a breast cancer survivor. ~ John Barrasso

NCI now actually anticipates further increases, and not decreases, in cancer mortality rates, from 171/100,000 in 1984 to 175/100,000 by the year 2000! ~ Samuel Epstein

A victim has the potential to transform into a survivor, but if that is forgotten, a true victim is what they become. A survivor must endure strife and persevere against those thoughts that would convince them otherwise. Holding fast to ones will will allow them to know their strength has not evaporated; They will never be without hope. ~ J.D. Stroube

Fire relatively quickly. A poorly performing employee is likely also an unhappy employee and that can be a cancer to your company's culture. If an employee is no longer achieving what you want or is not fitting in for whatever reason, think about the specific accomplishments or behavior you're looking for. Sit down with him and give him very specific, quantifiable goals you want him to accomplish over the next two months. If he can't meet your requirements in that two-month period, let him go. You will never regret it. Save ~ Chris LoPresti

I feel very passionate that we need CAT scanners in every country in the world. There's not a CAT scanner in all of eastern Congo. People don't use the word "cancer" because they don't get diagnosed. They just die. ~ Eve Ensler

One of the side effects of (surgery, anesthesia,) X-ray ... , and chemotherapy, is the suppression ... of the patient's immunological defenses ... A simple cold often leads to the death from pneumonia - and ('pneumonia') is what appears on the death certificate, not cancer. ~ G. Edward Griffin

I had cancer, you fuck! ~ Jennifer Echols

ABC of Cancer
ARMOUR – The 'Cancerian shell' refers to the stoic suit of armour which all Cancerians wear. This armour can take many forms. It may be a veneer of reserve, humour, aloofness, or even hostility; but it always exists. Cancer is a sign which does not willingly show its true colours, except to those nearest and dearest, or closest. This sign is a bit like the proverbial iceberg: nine-tenths of the true personality is submerged, at least until he/she trusts you to know him/herself intimately. ~ Bernie Morris

Cancer is really a slew of rare diseases. Lung cancer has 700 sub-types, breast cancer has 30,000 mutations which means that every cancer in its own right is a rare disease. Sharing data globally in this context is really important from a life-threatening perspective. ~ Patrick Soon-Shiong

Cancer is a tremendous opportunity to have your face pressed right up against the glass of your mortality. But what patients see through the glass is not a world outside cancer, but a world taken over by it - cancer reflected endlessly around them like a hall of mirrors. ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee

Jesus ... remains in control of my circumstances, no matter the size of the waves. ~ Shirley Corder

One important thing to know is you're still the same person during it. I'm more eager than ever to do what I did. I want to do everything. ~ Kylie Minogue

I'm strong thanks to you, Kyra. You're my strength. And who the hell was she to put that burden on me? I was her strength? Then what did that mean as the cancer ate her from the inside out? What did that mean as she got weaker and weaker and weaker? When the cancer migrated her brain and made her forget things and space out randomly?
You can't rely on other people to be your strength.
You have to be your own strength. ~ Barry Lyga

Much like the removal of moles and skin lesions is done to prevent them from growing into more serious skin abnormalities, removing minor discord before it becomes a calamity is an important use of our time. Most people don't like to make waves and they swallow frustration and bury true feelings, not wanting to compromise temporary tranquility, never realizing that massive turmoil doesn't start out massive - it grows beneath the skin like a cancer that could have been avoided with early detection. ~ T.D. Jakes

Every show on television has a downward trend because there are so many more things to watch. You can only deal with what is the benchmark of a hit series and 'Survivor' clearly remains a hit series. ~ Mark Burnett

I saw it all of a sudden. That whether I liked it or not, the survivor and the artist was me, not her. We're all conditioned to think of our children as more important than us, you know, and to live vicariously through them. All of a sudden I was sick of that kind of thinking. I may be dead tomorrow, I said to myself, but I'm alive now. And I can live deliberately. I've paid the price, I've done the work, and I have nothing to be ashamed of. ~ Jonathan Franzen

Shortly before I turned 37 and my older daughter turned 3, I was diagnosed with breast cancer: stage III of IV. ~ Kelly Corrigan

When we first begin to take power more directly, after long having kept our relationship to it underground...it is natural that we experience anxiety, even guilt, at putting ourselves first. These feeling let us know we are taking action; they do not need to stop us. ~ Maureen Brady

Cancer start when cell in the body being to grow out of control.Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other areas of the body.So you have no need to worried about kidney cancer because we provide the best treatment of Kidney Cancer in Los Angeles. ~ Cancercenter

Are you attentive when your inner self-speaks to you? ~ Patricia Dsouza

During my cancer battle, "the more I lose of myself externally, the more I gain internally". ~ C.A.Nichols

They want to control humankind through what they call selective breeding. The Nazis started it, but now the nwo are continuing it. See, the only way to control population is to first get it back down to manageable size. They're culling the herd, same way the game commission does when deer population gets out of control. That's why we've got diseases like cancer and aids. You telling me that we can put a little goddamn skateboard-looking robot on Mars and have it send pictures back, but we can't find a cure for cancer? There's a cure. You can bet on that, boys. There's a goddamn cure. They just won't release it because cancer helps cut down the population. ~ Brian Keene

Some wars," he said dismissively. "What am I at war with? My cancer. And what is my cancer? My cancer is me. The tumors are made of me. They're made of me as surely as my brain and my heart is made of me. It is a civil war, Hazel Grace, with a predetermined winner. ~ John Green

The cancer I had is not at all equal to other people's cancer. I've never had to have chemotherapy; I haven't had to have a mastectomy. ~ Jennifer Grey

So how can we improve the educational system? We should probably first rethink school curricula, and link them in more obvious ways to social goals (elimination of poverty and crime, elevation of human rights, etc.), technological goals (boosting energy conservation, space exploration, nanotechnology, etc.), and medical goals (cures for cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc.) that we care about as a society. ~ Dan Ariely

You may tend to get cancer from the thing that makes you want to smoke so much, not from the smoking itself. ~ William, Saroyan

Reducing the price of AIDS drugs gave me so much satisfaction that I've been thinking what else I could do. One day, I thought, 'Let's look at cancer and see how we can spare cancer patients' unnecessary suffering.' ~ Yusuf Hamied

The Great Truth is that women in our society constitute one of the most privileged and powerful classes of human beings on earth. The challenge is to make women believe in their power. "Woman as victim" is an idea whose time has passed. The idea of woman as a survivor and a success must take its place. ~ Wendy McElroy

Cancer doesn't give a shit how much you want to live. If it wants to kill you, it will. ~ A.S. King

He loves me so he hurts me
To try and make me good.
It doesn't work. I'm just too bad
And don't do what I should.

My memory has so many different sections and, like all survivors, there are so many compartments with so many triggers. I'll remember a smell which reminds me of a man which reminds me of a place which reminds me of another man who I think was with a woman who had a certain smell - and I'm back to square one. This is the case for most survivors, I believe. When we try to put together our pasts, the triggers are many and varied, the memories are disjointed - and why wouldn't they be? We were children. Even someone with an idyllic childhood who is only trying to remember the lovely things which happened to them will scratch their head and wonder who gave them that doll and was it for Christmas or their third birthday? Did they have a party when they were four or five? When did they go on a plane for the first time? You see, even happy memories are hard to piece together - so imagine how hard it is to collate all of the trauma, to pull together all of the things I've been trying to push away for so many years. ~ Laurie Matthew

Cancer is the pitbull of diseases, and it had her in its jaws, biting and rending. It would not stop until it had torn her to pieces. ~ Stephen King

I'm cycling to take cancer message worldwide. ~ Lance Armstrong

Hate is like cancer, separate from the normal cells, devouring and not being nourished, annihilating itself along with everything it attacks. ~ Madeleine L'Engle

My mother did not want cancer to interfere with my life, as she knew it would eventually end hers. ~ Jenna Morasca

I am so grateful for my physical therapist, Teresa England, who taught me to respect the process of recovery. Healing is sometimes slow, and any pace but fast was alien to me. To me, the idea of patience and gradual progress was a very foreign idea. I truly learned patience from this woman, and how to appreciate the smallest signs of improvement. ~ Tara Subkoff

My analyses and conclusions differ diametrically from those of the Southern Research Institute/National Cancer Institute report wherein it is concluded that amygdalin 'does not possess activity in the Lewis lung carcinoma system.'. My analysis of the data is that it is overwhelmingly positive. ~ Dean Burk

The thymus produces three types of cells: B-cells, T-cells, and my favorite, NKs. NK stands for 'natural-killer,' also called macrophages. They will attack anything. They'll devour a virus, burst cancer cells, whatever it takes." McAlister said, "So if a healer in Tibet stumbled onto a combination of herbs that boosts the thymus' ability to produce NK cells, it could create a sort of super-immune system. ~ Hunt Kingsbury

Now I wear my cancer like I wear my blackness I'm proud! ~ Mr. T

You may be operating from the belief that you must do everything yourself because no one will ever be there for you.
Or you may think that if you never speak up you'll avoid being rejected. Both these fears no longer apply to you today as an adult.
If you never reach out for help, you will continue to deprive yourself. ~ Beverly Engel

When I deny the seriousness of my abuse I agree with my abuser and those who wouldn't acknowledge it. When I am in denial, I have the tendency to minimize my abuse, believe the lies others have said, as well as deny it ever happened. It is important for me to remember as much detail as I can so I can trust my own perceptions of what really happened and not depend on the validations from others. ~ Patty Hite

I call my mom from the car. I tell her that Neutral Milk Hotel is playing at the Hideout and she says, "Who? What? You're hiding out?" And then I hum a few bars of one of their songs and Mom says, "Oh, I know that song. It's on the mix you made me," and I say, "Right," and she says, "Well you have to be back by eleven," and I say, "Mom this is a historical event. History doesn't have a curfew," and she says, "Back by eleven," and I say, "Fine. Jesus," and then she has to go cut cancer out of someone. ~ John Green

Scarlett lived by the (thankfully) ancient medical creed: If it tastes awful and smells worse, it's probably good for you.
Julia wasn't so sure about that. She lived by the edict: If it tastes awful and smells worse, leave it the hell alone. On the other hand, if it tasted good and smelled better, you either ate it, squirted it on your neck or fucked it.
It hadn't led her wrong so far. ~ Amy Andrews

Dreams are built around the word hello, but in the end fate only knows the word goodbye. ~ Shannon L. Alder