Liz Murray
Liz Murray
Elizabeth "Liz" MurraySeptember 23, 1980) is an American inspirational speaker who is notable for having been accepted by Harvard University despite being homeless in her high school years...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSelf-Help Author
Date of Birth23 September 1980
CityBronx, NY
CountryUnited States of America
beings change front human perspective programs resources
But they can change and I should help, and they are human beings and they can do it to, but they just need that right perspective and the right programs and resources in front of them.
changeable impressed life
Then you kind of look around and say, what else can life do? Does it have to be negative? You become impressed with -- it's changeable and things don't have to be the way they are.
dangerous grew society telling watch
When I grew up in the Bronx, we always had everyone telling us, 'Watch out for the system, watch out for child welfare, watch out, they'll get you,' and I grew up with this feeling of, 'Society is over there and they're dangerous and not safe.'
life series
I feel like my life has been a series of miracles. I was in every sense a lost cause.
dreams foot share sit
My mother used to sit at the foot of my bed, and she would share her dreams with me.
calling feeling inside meant turned
I had a calling inside of me. I had a sense that when I was going through experiences like living on the streets, losing my parents to AIDS, just having my whole world turned upside-down, there was this feeling inside of me like I was meant for something greater.
black curls dark left photograph taken white
I have just one black and white photograph left of my mother when she was younger. She was 17 when it was taken and beautiful with wispy curls and eyes that shone like dark marbles.
advantage life pass
I need to take advantage of life right now. If I don't, it will pass me by. It's just that easy.
eye disease months
Ma was legally blind due to a degenerative eye disease she'd had since birth. This meant she was entitled to welfare, and our lives revolved around the first day of every month when her payment was due.
girl children smell
Shortly after I turned 13, Child Welfare took me into care. I was sent to a residential centre where girls with behavioural problems were 'evaluated'. My time there comes back to me now only in flashes of smells, images and sounds.
home night ideas
Many nights, I longed for home. But it occurred to me as I struggled for a feeling of comfort and safety: I have no idea where home is.
mother dream feet
My mother used to sit at the foot of my bed and she would share her dreams with me.
mother three months
As well as being blind, Ma turned out to have the same mental illness that her mother had had. Between 1986 and 1990, she suffered six schizophrenic bouts, each requiring her to be institutionalised for up to three months.
hands people giving
The lesson that people can't give me what they don't have, and if there's anything I took from it, it was: okay, I don't really expect anyone to hand me anything. There's going to be me and the world.