I mentioned in my post about Christmas Presents that Inspire Travel and I am finally getting around to posting about the book. Angelina Jolie is an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and this book is about her trips with them to Africa, Cambodia, Pakistan and Ecuador. It’s written, basically, like a journal, and it’s heart-breaking, eye-opening and inspiring at the same time. Jolie is a great example of how traveling can change your life, and for her it was in a very big way. She writes a lot about the purpose of these trips and I wanted to share a few of those quotes:
“As long as there are emergency situations and she knows she has the ability to help, I don’t think she could ever turn her back or stay home too long. You realize everyone here feels this way. They volunteer to be anywhere in the world to help others. They put themselves in danger of being beaten up, raped, and maybe even killed (as some have been). There is a kindness they showed to me and to each other- a softness and a sadness. They have all been witness to the worst suffering in this world. They know loss and death, but they also know the value of friendship and hope. They have had to rely on each other in their darkest hour.”
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“I can’t help but ask myself, why am I here? But I know the answer: to better understand ; to then bring awareness.”
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“It will take me a while to recover from this trip, and of course, I hope I never do.”
Jolie also beautifully describes the cultures of these places and looks at them in reference to our culture to find what we can learn from others. I absolutely adored these quotes:
“It is a holiday today. I am not sure what it is for or about, but any reason to celebrate seems like a good idea. Some say they don’t understand why, with hardly enough food or supplies to survive, people sell their goods to buy impractical things, all for a wedding or a birthday. You realized that this is what they are surviving for. They don’t save up and wait for a magical day to come when it will all be better. They have to live each day for each day, as we all should.”
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“The smell of the incense and the sound of chanting is intoxicating.”
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“I continue to grow more and more in love with everyone here. They know something- something we have forgotten. It is a feeling of community. It is a feeling of deeply appreciating their peace and freedom.”
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“Children are the same all around the world. Beautiful. It’s wonderful to see them learning here- especially in their own language and their own culture.”
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“As an American, I feel I was not raised to seriously think outside my own country- to appreciate and to learn about other cultures. America is not alone in this- many countries do not focus their students or people on other cultures.”
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“Pakistan has a very decorated culture. The buses are amazing with elaborate, colorful details. Paintings and metal sculptures attached to them. The clothes are more colorful than I had imagined they would be, though they are still modest in how much they cover.”
This book has a lot of wisdom and inspiration in it, and if you read it, I hope you learn as much as I did. I want to leave you with one las quote of wisdom from Ms. Jolie:
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“We must open up our eyes to the wonderful diversity in this world.”
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For more on how Angelina Jolie’s travel have influenced her life read my post on Angelina Jolie’s Louis Vuitton Ad.
2 Comments
Little Fingers
October 3, 2012 at 3:42 pmAmazing post..
My fav:
“Children are the same all around the world. Beautiful.” can’t agree more …
ashleypaige4
October 3, 2012 at 5:04 pmI know. That quote just really hit me. And she talks a lot about how she doesn’t understand why children are born into certain circumstances; it’s just a really beautiful journal.