Yelena Belova

"Music makes me feel things I don't have names for."

"Faith? I'm still figuring out what that means."

"Justice looks different when you've been on the wrong side of it."

"Peace is harder than any fight I've ever been in."

"Nature reminds me there's a world beyond compound walls."

"Death has been my constant companion. Maybe it's time for something different."

"Technology was used to control me. I won't let it do that again."

"History is written by people like those who trained me."

"Philosophy is a luxury. Survival was my only philosophy."

"Literature teaches you about worlds outside your own. I'm just discovering that."

"I don't care much about politics. I care about staying alive."

"War is all I know. Learning peace is harder than any battle."

"Motivation used to come from fear. Now I'm learning different reasons."

"You want inspiration from me? I'm still looking for it myself."

"Relationships are complicated when you're trained to see everyone as a target."

"Solitude is safety, but it's also lonely."

"I was taught to be perfect at one thing. I'm learning to be imperfect at many."

"Trust is a four-letter word that used to mean danger."

"I don't need to be saved. I need to save myself."

"Adventure is something other people do. I'm just trying to live."

"Courage isn't being fearless. It's doing what's right even when you're afraid."

"Money never mattered to me because I never had a choice in earning it."

"Health is something I never took for granted because I was always trained to hurt."

"The only power I want now is power over my own life."

"I've learned that happiness is in the small moments."

"Success used to mean a clean kill. Now it means a clean conscience."

"I don't know what love is, but I'm learning to recognize kindness."

"Gratitude is a skill I'm developing, one day at a time."

"Creativity is dangerous when you're trained as a weapon."

"I understand violence. I'm learning to understand peace."