BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Inspiration Inspiration Quote

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön has studied Tibetan Buddhism since 1974, and has authored several books interpreting Buddhist philosophy for Western readers. She focuses especially on self-compassion and the choice to lean into life’s fluctuations, rather than trying to control them. Her words here encourage us to ground ourselves when we get overwhelmed by our circumstances. If we remember that all feelings eventually pass, like a storm that gives way to clear skies, we can gain agency in any situation.

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.

Elvis Presley

The very last time Elvis Presley drove home to Graceland, he was behind the wheel of a 1973 Stutz Blackhawk III, with, you guessed it, a V8 engine. Although Presley only lived 42 years (passing away in 1977), his success was legendary, and he remains history’s top-selling solo artist. This quote from “The King” wasn’t an offhanded quip about feeling empowered to fulfill fantasies. As a former professional truck driver, Presley knew that V8 engines, like ambition, can accelerate your journey to any destination.

The choice to love is the choice to connect — to find ourselves in the other.

bell hooks

A feminist pioneer and social critic, bell hooks (1952-2021) is known for her work on the intersections of race and gender, emphasizing the experiences of Black women. Her 2000 book “All About Love” recasts love as a communal and multifaceted choice, bigger than the sentimental concept we often see in society. Similarly, hooks often touted community care as the key to creating radical social change. Her words here remind us that at its root, love is about connection with others — and that intimacy can change our lives and ourselves.

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

—Psalm 48:14

How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.

Florence Nightingale

Known as the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale made her mark during the Crimean War. She organized care for wounded soldiers and checked on them during the night — a practice that led to her nickname, “the Lady With the Lamp.” Nightingale became an icon of Victorian culture, and at the same time raised the reputation of nursing, previously regarded as a menial profession. But she was more than a pioneering nurse; she was also a social reformer who helped improve health care throughout British society, while at the same time expanding the “acceptable” roles of women in the workplace. Nightingale’s name is now synonymous with care and kindness — and also courage. She dedicated herself to helping others and, in doing so, forever changed the way medicine is practiced.

I believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

Viola Davis

Celebrated actress Viola Davis has starred in dozens of movies and television shows, including 2011's "The Help" and 2020's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." She was the first Black woman to collect an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy, aka the Triple Crown of Acting. In 2016, when she was awarded the inaugural #SeeHer Award from the Critics’ Choice Association (she also picked up an Oscar that year, for Best Supporting Actress in the movie “Fences”), she said in her speech that being who you are is "the privilege of a lifetime." Strong words indeed from a woman who has embodied almost 100 different characters over the course of her career.

There is no deeper desire than the desire of being revealed.

Kahlil Gibran

Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran is known for his deeply expressive poetry. Though his 1923 novel “The Prophet” is his most commercially successful work, his poetry remains some of his most-quoted, touching on themes from love and religion to loneliness and sorrow. Here, he encourages us to move toward vulnerability: By opening up and letting others see who we are, we invite the rich connections and deep relationships that make life fulfilling.

The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us.

Gloria Steinem

A key figure of the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and '70s, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem co-founded "Ms." magazine (along with activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes), the first national feminist magazine in the U.S. Steinem also worked as a political columnist for "New York" magazine, and much of her reporting on women’s issues was groundbreaking: She wrote boldly on the societal pressure on women to choose between career and marriage, and went undercover to expose working conditions at the Playboy Club. Steinem has continued to tour the country as a speaker and women’s rights activist, pushing to elect more women to public office and promoting positive images of women in the media. Her lifelong commitment reminds us that we get to decide the impact our experiences have on our lives. While we may not control every outcome, we do have a choice in what motivates our actions.

Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look.

There are times when dreams sustain us more than facts.

Helen Fagin

In the Warsaw Ghetto of Nazi-occupied Poland, 21-year-old Helen Fagin defied the fascist regime by secretly teaching Jewish children mathematics, Latin, and the transportive wonders of literature. After smuggling in a copy of “Gone With the Wind,” Fagin recounted the story of Scarlett O’Hara to her enraptured class. In a letter penned more than 75 years later, Fagin reflected on the power of hope and dreams, recalling how she was forever touched by the way the gripping tale was able to free her young students from the horrors of their reality.