If I could give one message to the bullied, it would be this: You are not alone. You are strong. You have a voice. Furthermore, you are beautiful. Furthermore, you are intelligent. There are many kids who want to speak up for you, but they don’t because they are afraid of becoming bullied themselves. There are many of us in the world who love you. I love you. You have the power to end this now. That power is in your voice. Find it. Once you use your voice, bullies want no part of you. If you feel that you lack the courage, fake it until you do. Finally, I know it’s hard to see a life that exists beyond high school. It is there, and it is beautiful.

— Dan Pearce

If I could give one message to the bullies, it would be this: You are incredible. You are bound for great things. You have the potential to be anybody you want to be. There are people who believe in you. There are people who love you. Be what we know you can be, even if you don’t believe in yourself right now.

— Dan Pearce

If only I could change the world around me, perhaps my truth won’t one day be the end of me.

— Dan Pearce

If there is one thing I have come to believe over the years, it’s the notion that there really is somebody for everybody. Every single person is going to look at beauty from a different angle. Every single person is going to be attracted to certain features and characteristics that are completely different from the next person. And… there isn’t a person on earth that everybody on earth finds attractive.

— Dan Pearce

If you don’t want your past to own you, try owning your past.

— Dan Pearce

If your dreams and goals get derailed, they're not dead. Derailed simply means off-track. Pick 'em up and put 'em back on again.

— Dan Pearce

If you want to change the world, first change yourself, then tell others how you did it. Never demand that people change. Inspire them to change using your own change as an example instead.

— Dan Pearce

I have known a lot of people in my life, and I can tell you this… Some of the ones who understood love better than anyone else were those who the rest of the world had long before measured as lost or gone. Some of the people who were able to look at the dirtiest, the poorest, the gays, the straights, the drug users, those in recovery, the basest of sinners, and those who were just… plain… different. They were able to look at them all and only see strength. Beauty. Potential. Hope. And if we boil it down, isn’t that what love actually is?

— Dan Pearce

I have learned that trying to control other people’s opinions of you is the fastest possible route to unhappiness.

— Dan Pearce

I made a big mistake, and I didn’t use it to make my life better. I used it to be okay with a life less lived. Furthermore, I used it to be okay with mediocrity and the mundane. And I didn’t make myself any better because of it. And that’s not okay with me.

— Dan Pearce