Loung Ung Quotes

#1. 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.

Loung Ung

#2. 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.

Loung Ung

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

Loung Ung

#4. Why are they doing this, Pa?" Kim asks. "Because they are destroyers of things.

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#5. The first victims are always the children.

Loung Ung

#6. As I tell people about genocide, I get the opportunity to redeem myself. I've had the chance to do something that's worth me being alive ... The more I tell people, the less the nightmares haunt me.

Loung Ung

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

Loung Ung

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

Loung Ung

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

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#10. 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.

Loung Ung

#11. Living life to the fullest involves living it with your family.

Loung Ung