Quotes from Amy Purdy

We've all seen that every challenge we've gone through, we've learned something from. It's not getting hung up on the challenges but figuring out how to get ahead.

You don't have to be positive all the time.

I've learned that borders are where the actual ends, but also where the imagination and the story begins.

If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go? That's the question that changed my life forever.

I feel that losing both my legs was a blessing. It was meant to happen to me: I wouldn't have had the opportunity to touch so many lives in such a positive way.

To be able to walk down the street and have people stop you, not just because they recognize you, but because you somehow personally touched them, it's amazing.

Just because I've got two prosthetic legs, yeah, I had to adapt in ways, but I've also become a lot stronger. It doesn't mean I'm at any disadvantage, really.

I'm an athlete, yes, but I'm also a woman. I'm someone who kind of, in a way, lost touch with that part of myself after I lost my legs, because there are certain feminine traits you lose when you have prosthetic legs.

When you are truly you and share who you are with the world and be confident in who you are, it doesn't matter what size you are. It doesn't matter what your different body parts look like.

Of course, I was 19 years old, and I suddenly lost my legs. It was extremely traumatic at the time, but I'm so beyond that. I've done so much with my life.

If your life were a book, and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?

I made a choice before I lost my legs that I was going to live the best life possible and that I wasn't going to let this slow me down - and that choice has kept me moving forward.

There are no rules in snowboarding.

I simply do the things that inspire me, be that snowboarding, designing clothing, or dancing.

I always say snowboarding saved my life. It gave me a reason to focus on the future; it gave me something to be passionate about.

All through high school, I was incredibly healthy. I loved the outdoors, and I loved snowboarding because of the freedom.

Pfizer's actually teamed up with my nonprofit organization, which is called Adaptive Action Sports. I cofounded this organization in 2005 to help people with physical disabilities get involved in action sports, go snowboarding, skateboarding.

The thing with prosthetic feet is you can't have all this crazy motion, or you'd be all over the place - because it's mechanical, and it's outside your body.

It's when I compare myself to what other people are able to do that I run into trouble. It is a bummer. I just constantly try to put things into perspective.

Oprah has been a true inspiration to me, so I'm truly grateful both to her for taking the time to speak with me, and to the folks at 'DWTS' who set it all up.

My dad gave me life twice. I thank him by using the strong body I now have.

I'm so comfortable on my snowboard that I don't have to think about it very much; it's somewhat second nature.

I knew what I didn't want. I didn't want people to feel sorry for me. I didn't want people to see me as disabled. I wanted to live a life of adventure and stories.

I'm one of those people who doesn't want to miss out on anything.