Mattie Stepanek
Mattie Stepanek
Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek, known as Mattie J.T. Stepanek, was an American poet who published seven best-selling books of poetry. Or as he wanted to be remembered as "a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played". Before his deathhe had become known as a peace advocate and motivational speaker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth17 July 1990
CityRockville, MD
CountryUnited States of America
giving helping bigger
God gives me hope that there is something greater than us, something better and bigger than the here and now, that can help us live.
nice book giving
I've gotten books published. I've met famous people that are very nice. I look back and I say, 'Wow. Thank you, God, for giving me this gift. And thank you for helping me to keep going.'
giving-up pain dont-give-up
Sometimes my body wakes me up and says 'Hey, you haven't had pain in a while. How about pain?' And sometimes I can't breathe, and that's hard to live with. But I still celebrate life and don't give up.
giving complaining thanks
If you have enough breath to complain about anything, you have more than enough reason to give thanks about something.
people
I write to express my thoughts, my feelings. I want people to think.
american-poet life people
The way of life is not as easy as some people think... like me.
everywhere people saw
People will come up to me everywhere and say, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Larry King,' and, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Oprah.' And it's really nice, and a lot of people say, 'Is it a pain?' And I say 'No.' And it's not annoying.
form
My disease is a very rare form of muscular dystrophy, called disautonomic mitochondrial myopathy.
I think I may have to grow up without growing old. I think we're going to have to define differently what I'm going to be. We're going to have to define my growing up differently.
bigger common greater life matter religions
It doesn't matter how you pray. Just pray. All religions are beautiful and they all have one common belief. There's something bigger and greater than us that can give us and take from us life. It is better than the here and now.
opportunity feelings share
Expressing my feelings and then the opportunity to share it with others is just such a gift.
father mean scary
We're divorced from my father because he did some mean and scary things to us.
kings pain nice
People will come up to me everywhere and say, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Larry King,'' and, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Oprah.'' And it's really nice, and a lot of people say, 'Is it a pain?' And I say 'No.' And it's not annoying.
teenager kids years
The doctor said, 'He can't last a week.' And I did. And they said, 'There's no way this kid's going to last a month.' And I did. And so they said, 'Two years. He's not going to make it.' Two years. 'Five years. He can't do that.' I lived to be five years. 'He's never going to hit double digits.' And here I am, a new teenager.