Quote Of The Day By Viola Davis: 'It's Futile To Ask Why. Instead Ask...'

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Viola Davis is one of the great actors of our time, and she also happens to have quite a lot of good advice. Born in South Carolina in 1965, Davis grew up in Rhode Island, where she fell in love with acting. She graduated from Rhode Island College in 1988 with a degree in theater before attending the Juilliard School of Performing Arts. In 1996, she not only debuted on Broadway but also appeared in small roles on television and cinema for the first time, and she's had increasing success from then on. Davis has since become only the 18th person in the world to earn an EGOT – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award — plus a second Tony Award, a Golden Globe, and so much more. That's not to say there hasn't been pain along the way, though.

We've all watched Davis' stunning transformation over the course of her long career. Yet, many didn't realize the extent of what she'd endured in her life until she wrote about it. Davis recounted some of the tragic details of her childhood and how she overcame her painful past in her award-winning 2022 memoir "Finding Me." In it, she shared many words of wisdom about how she got to where she is today, and that's why an excerpt from Davis' memoir is today's quote of the day.

In her memoir "Finding Me," Viola Davis wrote, "It's futile to ask why. Instead ask yourself, 'What did I learn from this?' What have I learned from all of it? There is absolutely no way whatsoever to get through this life without scars." Davis' memoir was full of thought-provoking quotes like this one, all shared throughout empathetic stories of how she navigated tragedies and found success. This quote is a great reminder that challenges are inevitable, but they have different ways of making us stronger depending on our perspective.

In her memoir, Viola Davis highlighted the struggles she has overcome over the course of her life. Yet, based on all she has accomplished, it's clear that she didn't let the pain she's endured hold her back from pursuing the things she wanted to achieve and becoming the person she wanted to be. This makes basic sense. After all, there is no real benefit to endlessly dwelling on painful situations and always thinking of them as setbacks or needless suffering.

Instead, try thinking about what you can take away from your negative experiences. Make even your most difficult moments feel like an important part of your path in life. It's especially important to remember that suffering is simply a part of life, something none of us can avoid, though we can choose how we react to that suffering. We can all learn from this, remembering that we don't need to be defined by the darkest moments in our lives. Rather, we can use them as building blocks for what's next.

• "My biggest discovery was that you can literally re-create your life. You can redefine it. You don't have to live in the past. I found that not only did I have fight in me, I had love."
• "The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity."
• "Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a different past."
• "And whereas I can't live inside yesterday's pain, I can't live without it."
• "Silly of me to not know that I am the love of my life."