--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is how you survive the unsurvivable…" description: "\"This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you lose that which you cannot bear to lose, this is how you reinvent yourself, overcome your abu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png" --- # This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you… ![“This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you lose that which you cannot bear to lose, this is how you reinvent yourself, overcome your abusers, fulfill your ambitions and meet the love of your life: by following what is true, no matter where it leads you.” quote by Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png) > “This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you lose that which you cannot bear to lose, this is how you reinvent yourself, overcome your abusers, fulfill your ambitions and meet the love of your life: by following what is true, no matter where it leads you.” [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Surviving hardship requires honesty, reinvention, confronting abuse, pursuing goals, and openness to love. **In simple terms:** Hardship demands truth and change. Key Takeaway Embrace truth, reinvent, pursue love. Themes resilience self‑growth relationships Mood determined hopeful Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - overcoming abuse - career change - finding love - personal reinvention Key Concepts authenticity transformation empowerment Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How can honesty reshape your future? A Different Perspective Truth may cause pain and conflict with others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abusers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abusers/) [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Of Your Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-your-life/) [Love your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-your-life/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Reinvent Yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reinvent-yourself/) [Reinventing yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reinventing-yourself/) ## Related quotes > [As an actor, you always have to reinvent yourself or you end up in the gutter somewhere. It's my job to always change people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-mcdermott/as-an-actor-you-always-have-to-reinvent-yourself-or-you-end-up-in-the/) [Dylan McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-mcdermott/) > [You might make a lot of money, but it's very hard to get out from under that rug. The more you can reinvent yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-berg/you-might-make-a-lot-of-money-but-it-s-very-hard-to-get-out-from/) [Peter Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-berg/) > [“Life is full of constant changes and learning to reinvent yourself throughout them. Why not start today reinventing yourself into becoming a better you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/life-is-full-of-constant-changes-and-learning-to-reinvent-yourself/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [Reinvent yourself. Repeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-bogusky/reinvent-yourself-repeat/) [Alex Bogusky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-bogusky/) > [Be prepared to reinvent yourself. Be prepared to go out on a limb occasionally, and be prepared to do the things that you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillman-curtis/be-prepared-to-reinvent-yourself-be-prepared-to-go-out-on-a-limb/) [Hillman Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillman-curtis/) > [Not to get too deep on shaving my mustache, but it was kind of symbolic of, 'This is a moment of liberation, a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-holt/not-to-get-too-deep-on-shaving-my-mustache-but-it-was-kind-of/) [Lester Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-holt/) > [You can't reinvent yourself for every movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-powell/you-can-t-reinvent-yourself-for-every-movie/) [John Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-powell/) > [You should have the opportunity to be more than one person with different people because you have that within you. It's not like you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-stewart/you-should-have-the-opportunity-to-be-more-than-one-person-with/) [Kristen Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-stewart/) > [You have to reinvent yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mellencamp/you-have-to-reinvent-yourself/) [John Mellencamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mellencamp/) > [All of my life had been spent in the shadow of apartheid. And when South Africa went through its extraordinary change in 1994, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/all-of-my-life-had-been-spent-in-the-shadow-of-apartheid-and-when/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [I'm a multidimensional person and that's the freedom of fashion: that you're able to reinvent yourself through how you dress and how you cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/i-m-a-multidimensional-person-and-that-s-the-freedom-of-fashion-that/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [At 23, you can completely, literally reinvent yourself if you want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-darnielle/at-23-you-can-completely-literally-reinvent-yourself-if-you-want-to/) [John Darnielle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-darnielle/) > [Every day you reinvent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide every day: forward or backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/every-day-you-reinvent-yourself-you-re-always-in-motion-but-you/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [If you're going to stick around in this business, you have to have the ability to reinvent yourself, whether consciously or unconsciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-quaid/if-you-re-going-to-stick-around-in-this-business-you-have-to-have-the/) [Dennis Quaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-quaid/) > [You are never too old to reinvent yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/you-are-never-too-old-to-reinvent-yourself/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) ## More by Augusten Burroughs > [There is nothing about myself that I wouldn't reveal or write about. I don't care how horrendous or ridiculous I may appear in person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/there-is-nothing-about-myself-that-i-wouldn-t-reveal-or-write-about-i/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“We were alone together, we were an us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/we-were-alone-together-we-were-an-us/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [Like every child, I adored her. Until I formed a brain and got to know her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/like-every-child-i-adored-her-until-i-formed-a-brain-and-got-to-know/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“You must hang onto the scraps of the bucking moment as if your sanity and life depended on it - because actually they do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/you-must-hang-onto-the-scraps-of-the-bucking-moment-as-if-your-sanity/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [Real optimism is not the pep talk you give yourself. It is earned through the labor involved in emotional housekeeping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/real-optimism-is-not-the-pep-talk-you-give-yourself-it-is-earned/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [If you hate your life, you haven't' seen enough of it. If you hate your life, it's because your life is too small and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/if-you-hate-your-life-you-haven-t-seen-enough-of-it-if-you-hate-your/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [I think writers tend to be experience junkies, and I think they also tend to want to be on the outside looking in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-think-writers-tend-to-be-experience-junkies-and-i-think-they-also/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [I think part of the reason I'm attracted to Foster is because he's such a mess. I mean, the people I have loved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-think-part-of-the-reason-i-m-attracted-to-foster-is-because-he-s/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“On typical days, (dust) is simply irritating. On Roid Rage days, it made me want to stomp down to the highway, pull drivers out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/on-typical-days-dust-is-simply-irritating-on-roid-rage-days-it-made/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [I'm like the guy who prepares your taxes or a dentist. I'm very conservative and boring in a lot of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-m-like-the-guy-who-prepares-your-taxes-or-a-dentist-i-m-very/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“Nothing surprises me now," I tell him. I am stoic. I am Joan of Arc, with liver damage and an unused penis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/nothing-surprises-me-now-i-tell-him-i-am-stoic-i-am-joan-of-arc-with/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“It's not that I was an outright nitwit of a child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/it-s-not-that-i-was-an-outright-nitwit-of-a-child/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [What I really want is to sit next to someone under an L.L. bean blanket on the beach in the fall and drink coffee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/what-i-really-want-is-to-sit-next-to-someone-under-an-l-l-bean/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“My worth depended on where exactly the decimal was placed among the zeroes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/my-worth-depended-on-where-exactly-the-decimal-was-placed-among-the/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [“Bookman isn't a stable man. He has a lot of problems that run very, very deep." But he was really good at giving head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/bookman-isn-t-a-stable-man-he-has-a-lot-of-problems-that-run-very/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) [Explore all 448 Augusten Burroughs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) ## More Abusers quotes > [It's incredibly dangerous to leave an abuser, because the final step in the domestic violence pattern is: kill her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-morgan-steiner/it-s-incredibly-dangerous-to-leave-an-abuser-because-the-final-step/) [Leslie Morgan Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-morgan-steiner/) > [The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. ... Substance abusing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-the-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Few people are aware of the severe human rights violations committed daily by family court judges across the country. These courts are siding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/few-people-are-aware-of-the-severe-human-rights-violations-committed/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) > [Cocaine was different. It kept saying, "You haven't had enough." I became an abuser almost instantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/cocaine-was-different-it-kept-saying-you-haven-t-had-enough-i-became/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Feminism exists so that no woman ever has to face her abuser in isolation, alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminism-exists-so-that-no-woman-ever-has-to-face-her-abuser-in/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [ The getting out part \[of advise\] may well be true. Because if you have tried the tender love thing... typically the abuser is not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/the-getting-out-part-of-advise-may-well-be-true-because-if-you-have/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“The people who were behind my abuse were very clever. They had created something which would be so difficult to explain, so difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/the-people-who-were-behind-my-abuse-were-very-clever-they-had-created/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) > [“Tenderness from empaths will be used against them time and time again by psychological abusers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-thomas/tenderness-from-empaths-will-be-used-against-them-time-and-time-again/) [Shannon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-thomas/) > [“As an adult, it shatters me that the child parts of my mind froze at those ages, didn't develop, and continued to believe the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-hoffman/as-an-adult-it-shatters-me-that-the-child-parts-of-my-mind-froze-at/) [Wendy Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-hoffman/) > [ Just take them rascals \[rapists, killers, child abusers\] out in the swamp / Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to a stump… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-daniels/just-take-them-rascals-rapists-killers-child-abusers-out-in-the-swamp/) [Charlie Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-daniels/) > [“Both incest and the Holocaust have been subject to furious denial by perpetrators and other individuals and by highly organised groups such as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-walker/both-incest-and-the-holocaust-have-been-subject-to-furious-denial-by/) Janet Walker > [Hats off to drug abusers everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/hats-off-to-drug-abusers-everywhere/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [“When an abuser gaslights, he or she sets up situations to make the target doubt their own memories and assessments of situations. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-thomas/when-an-abuser-gaslights-he-or-she-sets-up-situations-to-make-the/) [Shannon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-thomas/) > [Forgiveness is created by the restitution of the abuser; of the wrongdoer. It is not something to be squeeeeeezed out of the victim in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/forgiveness-is-created-by-the-restitution-of-the-abuser-of-the/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Deadbeat dads are the real trash of the world. Next are abusers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/deadbeat-dads-are-the-real-trash-of-the-world-next-are-abusers/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 128 Abusers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abusers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you lose that which you cannot bear to lose, this is how you reinvent yourself, overcome your abusers, fulfill your ambitions and meet the love of your life: by following what is true, no matter where it leads you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Augusten Burroughs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable-this-is-how-you-lose-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abusers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable-this-is-how-you-lose-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/augusten-burroughs-603_abusers_this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable_2550189.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is how you survive the unsurvivable, this is how you lose that which you cannot bear to lose, this is…” — Augusten Burroughs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Augusten Burroughs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This is how you survive the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable-this-is-how-you-lose-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/this-is-how-you-survive-the-unsurvivable-this-is-how-you-lose-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```