Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
In war time, nowhere is safe.
People can learn the tragedy of war from me.
I love my scars. It reminds me where I come from.
I count my blessings and do things to help others.
When I felt real forgiveness, my heart was set free.
I got burned by napalm, and I became a victim of war.
As a child, I loved to climb on the tree, like a monkey.
My faith in God is healing my heart so I can have peace.
I want to be a doctor, to give treatment to other people.
I have suffered a lot from both physical and emotional pain.
The more I prayed for my enemies, the softer my heart became.
I have two boys, so I don't want any more child to suffer like me.
I suffered too much and I want to stop the suffering of other people.
When those four bombs fell, I was in the middle and I should have died.
I have a husband and a new life and want to be normal like everyone else.
Sometimes I could not breathe, but God saved my life and gave me faith and hope.
We should work together to be of peace and happiness for all people in all nations.
Dear friends: faith and forgiveness is much more powerful than napalm could ever be.
My character is not sad, not angry. In my house, I'm always laughing, smiling, smiling.
I had a lot of pity for myself. But I could concentrate more on my studies as a result.
I saw the bombs, and, like a kid, I looked back at them. Instantly there was fire everywhere.
I forgive everyone who caused my suffering, even the pilot, commander, people controlling me.
I want to give back all the love and care that I have received over the years from so many people.
That little girl became me now. I have accepted it and I'm thankful that my picture worked for good.
I really wanted to escape from that little girl. But it seems to me that the picture didn't let me go.
I really want to say, 'Thank God I'm alive.' I want to forgive the people who caused my suffering. I did.
In the picture, I am crying from pain. Now, I cry for peace. I don't want to see any more children suffer.
You will remember me as a little child in another time, during another war, and involving another airplane.
My dream is that one day, all people will live without fear, in real peace, with no fighting and no hostility.
I never thought that the child who was a famous symbol of war would one day be invited to become a symbol of peace.
I hated myself. I hated people who made war. I hated people who were normal. I envied them. I wish I would be normal.
I asked why me? Why did I have to suffer so much pain and scars? I was just a little girl - I didn't do anything wrong.
There's such a connection between Vietnam and America, but it should be one of friendship. Not bitterness. Not enemies.
I cannot sweat because there is no hair and no pores on the skin grafts. And, can you imagine, there is no blood at all in my scars?
Every movement of mine was under the control of the Vietnamese government, a communist country. I was just a prisoner without walls.
Yet I was ready for love and joy. I wanted to let go of my pain. I wanted to pursue life instead of holding fast to fantasies of death.
From time to time I look at the picture when I am very sad. I just want to remember my past and that scene made a deep impression on me.
I know what it is like to experience terror, to feel despondent, to live in fear. I know how wearying and hopeless life can be sometimes.
People ask me a lot, 'How can you smile all the time?' I tell them, 'I was never angry. God created me this way. He created me laughing and smiling.'
My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'
I did not think that I could marry or have any children because of my burns. But now I have a wonderful husband, a lovely child and a happy family, thank God.
Through my experiences, I was living with anger and hatred, which was a really bad thing for me. Then I learned how to forgive, and it freed me from hatred and helped me a lot.
Nine years old, I became the victim of war. I didn't like that picture at all. I felt like, why he took my picture, when I was agony, naked, so ugly? I wished that picture wasn't taken.
My own people, the South Vietnamese, had been bombing trade routes used by the Viet Cong rebels. I had not been targeted, of course. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
God used me that day. Even though so much of my body was burned, my feet were not burned, and so I could run out and be there for that photo. It saved a lot of souls and brought an end to the war.
Behind that picture of me, thousands and thousands of people, they suffered - more than me. They died. They lost parts of their bodies. Their whole lives were destroyed, and nobody took that picture.
In 1974, I cried all day long. I kept putting my well arm next to my left one, which could not move. My mother kept saying, 'Don't be sad. If you cry, I will cry and then we will all be twice as sad.'
For years, I prayed to the gods of Cao Dai for healing and peace. But as one prayer after another went unanswered, it became clear that either they were nonexistent or they did not care to lend a hand.
Having known war I know the value of peace. Having lived under government control I know the value of freedom. Having lived with hatred, terror and corruption I know the value of faith and forgiveness.
Even if I could talk face to face with the pilot who dropped the bombs I would tell him, 'We cannot change history, but we should try to do good things for the present and for the future to promote peace.'