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Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie is best known for her scientific breakthroughs in radiation and radioactivity, which won her two Nobel Prizes. Even after her husband and research partner Pierre Curie died, Marie carried on their work, introducing the first X-ray machines to the frontlines of World War I. She spoke these brave words upon discovering that her long-term exposure to radiation during her research had given her leukemia. Her rational outlook applies not just to science and mortality, but also to life: If we approach the unknown without fear, we’re more likely to gain understanding we didn’t have before.
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The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
Confucius
Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived more than 2,500 years ago. Yet despite the wide gap of time between his life and ours, he is still famous today for his wise teachings and philosophy. While Confucius’ political and cultural influence is hard to overstate, his beginnings were meager. This only further proves the point of the above quote, which reminds us that great movements often start with small steps.
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There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
This beautiful line comes from Edith Wharton’s long poem “Vesalius in Zante (1564).” The speaker of the poem is Inquisition-era anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), who left Spain to travel to the East in his fifties, when he could no longer bear to live and work in a society that forbade his scientific research. On his way home from Jerusalem, Vesalius was shipwrecked on the Greek island of Zante, where he fell ill and died, never to return home. In the poet’s imagining, the censored scientist finds consolation at the end of his life in the faith that others will carry on the work he was prevented from: “What one man failed to speak, another finds / Another word for,” Wharton writes. In other words, carrying on the “light” of another — be it ideas, joy, love, or inspiration — can be just as valuable as creating it yourself.
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There’s a wall between you and what you want and you got to leap it.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is generally regarded as one of the greatest songwriters in history — and he has a Nobel Prize in literature to prove it. The folk singer earned the award for his poetic and often moving lyrics. Take this one from Dylan’s 1981 song “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar” off the album “Shot of Love.” It encourages us to seize the moment, to bust through our fears and overcome obstacles. We won’t reach our dreams, Dylan warns, without the courage to leap.
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You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.
Abraham Maslow
American psychologist Abraham Maslow is best known for his theory of the “Hierarchy of Needs,” which outlined the basic human needs that must be met before one can seek social or spiritual fulfillment. Feeling that psychology didn’t take into account human creativity or potential, Maslow defined the concept of “self-actualization” as a process in which humans continually strive to reach our best selves. Choice played a prominent part in his theories: Here, he reminds us that our progress in life is up to us — as long as we have the courage to move forward into the unknown.
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Deserve your dream.
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz, one of the most influential poets in the world, came from humble beginnings. He began publishing his work as a teenager and released his first poetry collection before the age of 20. His hard work earned him an esteemed career; he traveled the world as a diplomat and writer, becoming known internationally for his poems and essays and winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 1990. Here, his charge to “deserve your dream” reminds us that success is measured not just in what we achieve, but who we are. When we know we’ve lived with integrity, reaching our goals is that much sweeter.
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A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
John A. Shedd
In 1901, a Minnesota newspaper reported that President Theodore Roosevelt wanted his warships on the move, and that they would rust and rot if left in the harbor. Twenty-seven years later, a professor by the name of John A. Shedd solidified Roosevelt’s sentiment into a pithy, memorable quote to share with the world, reminding us that great experiences are sometimes found over the horizon. Just as ships are meant to sail the seas, so too are we meant to explore new ideas and experiences. It can take courage to leave life’s safe harbors, but the reward for such bravery is a life well-lived.
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Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.
Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers is best known for his work as the creator and host of the beloved television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which ran from 1968 to 2001. A major theme of his show was helping kids to understand their emotions, to know that “feelings are mentionable and manageable.” But Mister Rogers also acknowledged that it can take a lifetime to understand and love ourselves for the complicated, wonderful human beings that we are. This quote reminds us that no matter what stage of life we find ourselves in, self-reflection and kindness are always noble endeavors.
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Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. first delivered this famous line in a sermon at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1957. It was later included in his 1963 book “Strength to Love,” in which King expounded on his philosophy of nonviolence and his belief that a powerful, loving presence binds all humans. Although he was regularly targeted by hate speech and discrimination, King adamantly insisted that only love could rid the world of its prejudice. To this day, as people protest peacefully for equality, they embody King’s ideals, promoting love in the belief that it will someday drive out hate.
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It is a happy talent to know how to play.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, preacher, poet, and philosopher. This quote, which was included rather unceremoniously in one of Emerson’s journal entries from April 1835, offers insight into his values. He cautioned against taking societal rules so seriously that you sacrifice silliness and fun. In this he was ahead of his time. Science has shown that, in fact, playfulness is a learned trait, one that benefits us physically, socially, and emotionally at any age. It is, as Emerson said, an excellent ability to cultivate for a happy life.
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I guess I would say, "haste makes waste."
Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
William Shakespeare
In William Shakespeare’s immortal play “Romeo and Juliet,” Friar Laurence gives this advice to the young Romeo, who has decided to marry Juliet despite their families' deep blood feud. The words stand as a warning against Romeo’s recklessness, which ultimately proves fatal for the star-crossed lovers. And it remains good advice for us all: Moving too quickly, without thinking our choices through, can result in careless mistakes at best and avoidable catastrophes at worst. Often, slow and steady really is the best way forward.
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Success is a collection of problems solved.
I. M. Pei
As an internationally renowned architect, I. M. Pei was well-versed in the power of problem-solving. Two of his most famous building designs, the John F. Kennedy Library and the Hancock Tower in Boston, faced numerous issues along the way, but Pei felt that such challenging projects helped toughen him as an architect, and would stand the test of time. Pei’s words serve as a beacon to us in moments of doubt and difficulty. They remind us that our satisfaction at the finish line actually springs from the hardships we overcame along the way.
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One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.
G.K. Chesterton
The starring character of English writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton’s first book of short stories, 1911's “The Innocence of Father Brown,” is a priest-turned-detective who combines scientific observation with spirituality. At this moment, Father Brown is explaining to another priest how things can change based on perspective. This quote speaks to the value of humility: Looking down on the world from a lofty height makes things appear small, but when we are down in the valley looking up, we have a much better grasp of what we’re seeing.
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You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky shared this classic bit of wisdom during a 1983 interview with commentator Bob McKenzie, and would later go on to explain that the words were passed down to him by his father, beloved Canadian philanthropist Walter Gretzky. Wayne said of his dad: “He inspired me to be the best I could be not just in the game of hockey, but in life." Gretzky Sr.’s words remind us that we cannot succeed unless we try — and we must take the shot if we want any hope of succeeding.
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To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau spent two years living in a remote cabin on Walden Pond in Massachusetts, an experience that birthed his celebrated memoir, “Walden.” In that time, he gave up luxuries and aesthetics, believing it was a more honorable challenge to redefine the meaning of a good life. He wrote in "Walden" about the importance of being "awake" through life — to live deliberately and enjoy the essential and divine elements of being alive. “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,” he wrote, adding, "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor … to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look." To him, shaping your outlook on life was the highest art of all.
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Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive.
Hafez
Not much is known about the life of Hafez, a 14th-century poet from Persia. But it’s thought that he was first drawn to the power of words upon hearing his father recite passages from the Quran. A celebrated court poet and lifelong teacher, Hafez specialized in ghazals, a form of love poem that expresses pain or loss, as well as the tender love entwined with it. His poems now serve as proverbs, offering wisdom and life lessons. His advice here acts as a lighthouse to each of us: We are most fulfilled when we follow the things that make us feel fully alive.
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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung is best known for his theories concerning the unconscious — our personalities, dreams, and intuitions. He believed that to develop a “true self,” each person has to distinguish the ego (individual identity) from the collective unconscious (shared symbols and patterns over human history). In that vein, Jung helped establish psychotherapy for people who felt their lives had lost meaning, guiding them to examine their individuality. His studies are a testament to the power of looking inward: When we understand ourselves and our place in the world, it gives us the clarity and insight we need to live with purpose.
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Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.
Madeleine L'Engle
Writer Madeleine L’Engle produced more than 60 works in her lifetime, including bestselling novels such as “A Wrinkle in Time” and several poetry collections. Of course, such a vast and impressive body of work didn’t come easily. L’Engle spoke often of the diligence and perseverance necessary to create. Waiting for a bolt of creative lightning to strike, she explained, is a surefire way to never get started. Her words here remind us that when we commit time and effort to our work, inspiration will follow.
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He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much.
Bessie Anderson Stanley
In 1904, “Brown Book Magazine” held a contest in which they asked readers to define success. When Kansas woman Bessie Anderson Stanley submitted her answer, she likely never dreamed her words would someday be misattributed to famed authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Robert Louis Stevenson. In the poem Stanley submitted, she highlighted appreciation of nature, kindness toward others, and having “left the world better than [one] found it” as tenets of a successful life. Stanley’s words ground us in what is truly important, and they remain resonant more than a century later.
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Chance favors only the prepared mind.
Louis Pasteur
Chemist Louis Pasteur pioneered several scientific breakthroughs, including the eponymous pasteurization process, as well as vaccines for anthrax and rabies. These breakthroughs came after Pasteur had studied and experimented for years — sometimes simply for the sake of science, rather than with a specific objective. These words, from his first address as dean of the Faculté des Sciences in Lille, France, call to mind that balance of hard work and exploration. Pasteur reminds us that we can’t simply hope to get lucky: It’s by investing time and effort into our pursuits that we often make our most exciting discoveries.
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Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, and writer, has traveled widely to spread his teachings on mindfulness and nonviolence. His persistent peaceful campaigns calling for an end to the Vietnam War in the 1960s brought him worldwide recognition, as well as nearly 40 years of exile from his home country. Here, he advises us to let go of our attachments in order to find happiness. He writes that to cling to anything — “anger, anxiety, or possessions” — can encumber our experience of freedom. Thich Nhat Hanh has said “letting go is a practice,” and an art that can be cultivated daily. By recognizing and releasing our desires, fears, hurt, and resentment, we can live our lives more freely and joyfully.
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I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship.
Louisa May Alcott
In Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 book “Little Women,” we follow the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy — as they grow up together and face all of life's trials and joys. Alcott based the book on her own childhood in Concord, Massachusetts. In this line, the character of Amy, the youngest sister, is expressing that every obstacle helps us grow and learn, making us stronger and braver the older we get.
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I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
Nelson Mandela
South African leader Nelson Mandela spent half a century fighting against the oppressive system of apartheid that segregated Black and white South Africans — a fight that led to his arrest in 1962 and a 27-year imprisonment. After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela spent the next four years participating in peace talks and negotiations to bring apartheid to an end, and in 1994 was elected as the first Black president of a revolutionized nation. Mandela never faltered in his belief in a more equal and just future, and that belief propelled him to act despite the risk. With this quote, from his 1994 memoir “Long Walk to Freedom,” he points out that courage and fear aren’t opposites; rather, true courage is taking action even when you’re scared. “The brave man,” he wrote, “is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
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Whatever you are, try to be a good one.
William Makepeace Thackeray
When essayist Laurence Hutton was a boy, he met British novelist William Makepeace Thackery (author of "Vanity Fair" and other books) and had an encounter that profoundly impacted his life. Thackeray asked Hutton what he wanted to be when he grew up, and Hutton replied, "A farmer." Thackeray’s apparent response was this piece of wisdom. Hutton tried his best to fulfill that advice, and we should, too. It doesn’t matter what you do in life; what matters is striving for excellence in any task, big or small, because the effort itself can be the greatest reward.
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Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
Richard Bach
Author Richard Bach wrote several bestselling books in the 1970s, many of which were semi-autobiographical and pulled from his own career as an aviator and Navy pilot. While most of his stories center on the experience of flying, with this quote Bach speaks to us about friendship and love, and the power of giving. He notes that a gift from a friend is more than the object being gifted: The thought behind it is an expression of love, because it’s a genuine wish for you to be happy.
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Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.
Maya Angelou
In 2008, a journalist with “The Atlantic” interviewed renowned poet Maya Angelou about race, feminism, and how to break down the barriers many people face in life. Prejudices “have been built over centuries,” Angelou said, and we can’t break through them immediately. Angelou encouraged readers not to be discouraged or disheartened if the hard work doesn’t pay off right away, because with persistence, eventually we’ll see some success — and a little bit of success can be the best motivator to keep trying. “We mustn't run out of steam," she said, "but keep plugging away."
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Seek first the virtues of the mind; and other things either will come, or will not be wanted.
Francis Bacon
The English philosopher Francis Bacon wrote this line in his 1605 book, “The Proficience and Advancement of Learning.” With it, he suggests that in order to be happy, it’s important to do first what we believe is honorable and right. Bacon warned that, paradoxically, chasing success can sometimes be the least effective way to reach joy. "Fortune,” he wrote, “hath somewhat of the nature of a woman, that if she be too much wooed, she is the farther off." But if we live with virtue, he suggests, then good fortune will come our way — or, we’ll discover that a virtuous life can itself be the root of happiness.
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Genius, like humanity, rusts for want of use.
William Hazlitt
English essayist William Hazlitt is best known for his humanist writings, which stress free will and self-actualization. In 1826, he published “On Application to Study,” an essay discussing how staying engaged keeps us moving forward. With this line, Hazlitt suggests that the drive for knowledge keeps our minds sharp — that genius is a muscle that can be exercised. He wrote that “by continuing our efforts, as by moving forwards in a road, we extend our views, and discover continually new tracts of country.” In other words, we will always learn something new when we’re out looking for it with an open mind.
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It is only after the deepest darkness that the greatest joy can come.
Malcolm X
Minister and activist Malcolm X spent his life advocating for civil rights, helping to pave the way toward racial equality. In the final chapter of his 1964 autobiography, Malcolm X reflects on his past and his accomplishments. He recalls how greatly he suffered in life, but offers a message of hope, writing, "It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come." His words remind us that pleasure can't be experienced without pain to compare it to, and the challenges we face bring a greater appreciation of the joy in life.
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The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.
Conan O'Brien
In his 2011 commencement speech at Dartmouth College, comedian Conan O’Brien drew from his own experiences with disappointment to deliver this poignant quote. After O’Brien lost his job as host of “The Tonight Show,” he was able to turn that setback into success, becoming the host of his own long-running talk show. This quote reminds us that the very moments that look like failure can be opportunities in disguise — opportunities to learn, to grow, and to gain wisdom and clarity that can lead us to achieve even greater things.
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Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
Marthe Troly-Curtin
This quote, from Marthe Troly-Curtin’s 1911 novel “Phrynette Married,” suggests that the things we love doing are rarely a waste of time — even if they might seem unimportant to others. In the book, the character of Phrynette is told she wasted her father’s time by having him concentrate on raising her rather than working. But Phrynette points out that raising a child brought her father pleasure, so how could that be a waste? It’s a reminder to listen to and trust our own hearts, being careful not to let other people define happiness and success for us.
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Fall in love with the masterpiece, and also the paint on the floor.
Morgan Harper Nichols
Artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols’ work often pairs poetry with abstract paintings in soft colors and shapes. Her work frequently tackles the in-between moments of life — like learning to sit with uncertainty, or offering ourselves kindness. Her artistic process, like this quote, also speaks to the acceptance of our messy parts: Nichols’ paintings often start from the landscape of a previous work, which she then paints over to create an entirely new piece. Here, Nichols asks us to value not just our best qualities, but also the imperfections that make each of us unique.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
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It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho’s novel “The Alchemist” follows a young Andalusian shepherd on a journey to the Egyptian pyramids, where he believes he will find hidden treasure. These words are spoken by an old wise woman who warns him to not get carried away. Indeed, the shepherd sees and experiences many things on his journey, but the ones that affect him most are the simplest: falling in love, meeting a mentor, and discovering what home means to him. Coelho’s story serves as a lesson to us not to discount the smaller or less elaborate wonders of life: The fulfillment we get from them may surprise us.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I don't know about this quote's suggestion. A person sure can get sidetracked and accomplish nothing.
When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.
B. F. Skinner
In a 1956 issue of the medical journal “The American Psychologist,” Harvard professor and psychologist B. F. Skinner published an article in which he takes an alternate look at the scientific method. Instead of focusing on one subject in a formal setting, Skinner suggests taking things moment by moment and following whims to reach the best results. This approach can work wonders in everyday life as well. Following where our passion and curiosity may lead can open up a world of creativity and inspiration. We may even discover something completely new and fascinating just by breaking free of routine.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
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Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Patience may be a virtue, but it's a difficult one to cultivate — especially in a world that is moving ever-faster. Yet with this quote, Enlightenment-era philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau reminds us that patience also comes with great rewards. Such rewards are never instant, but can increase over time, like an investment that must be allowed to mature. Research suggests that people who cultivate patience experience better mental and even physical health, and have happier relationships with others over the course of their lives.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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an inspirational story -
Every Single Thing
"I just don’t know what my purpose, what my mission in this life is!," a friend wrote me in an e-mail recently. For some reason her letter awakened an old memory in me so I wrote her back and shared this with her.
When I was a young Dad my family was struggling just to get by. I was getting a few days work here and there as a substitute teacher. I was teaching every subject and every grade from kindergarten to seniors in high school. Then near the end of the school year I got called in at the last second to teach at a local grade school. I got there late worrying about the Summer to come and the lack of work it would bring. The class I got had a bad case of Summer break fever too. To say they were rambunctious would be understating it.
They were bouncing off their seats, talking in class, and not playing attention to anything I said. Finally, it was time for recess and I was as happy as they were to get outside the hot classroom. I watched them run and play and hoped it would wear them out so the afternoon wouldn’t be as tough as the morning had been on me. It was then, however, that a little girl ran up to me. She had a handful of freshly picked wild flowers. She reached a Daisy out to me and said, “This is for you, Mr. Mazzella.” In that second I felt a joy I hadn’t felt all day. I smiled and thanked her for her gift as she skipped happily away.
You see, in that instant that little girl had completed a part of her purpose here on Earth. In that second she had completed a moment of her mission. The truth is every single thing we do is a part of our purpose here. Every single thing we do is a part of our mission. God put us here to learn to love each other as He loves us. It is a life long process too, so stop worrying about your mission and your purpose. You are living them each and every day.
The same is true for all of us. May all your days then be full of life, learning, and love.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
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Remember Steel Magnolias?
I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.
Robert Harling
Robert Harling’s play and subsequent 1989 film “Steel Magnolias” focuses on a group of women living in a small town in the American South. One of them is Shelby (played by Julia Roberts in the movie), a type 1 diabetic whose condition makes childbearing dangerous. Determined to be a mother, she gets pregnant anyway. When her own mother (Sally Field) protests, she responds with these words above, choosing passing joy over what she worries will be an empty life. Not all our decisions may be as high-stakes as Shelby’s, but her intention serves as a worthy guide: We should always reach for what brings us fulfillment and wonder, regardless of the risk.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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There is so much to be grateful for, words are poor things.
Marilynne Robinson
The irony of this quote is that celebrated novelist Marilynne Robinson is known precisely for her ability to capture the human experience in graceful prose. Still, if words are poor things, perhaps it is because Robinson has so much to be grateful for. Since the 1980 publication of her debut novel “Housekeeping” (which won the PEN Award for Best First Novel), Robinson has gone on to write a dozen books and collect numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize (for 2004's "Gilead"), the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and the National Humanities Medal for her “grace and intelligence in writing.” This quote is a beautiful reminder for the rest of us, too: Taking time to appreciate all we have can be a powerful feeling.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.
Frida Kahlo
It is the fate of many famous women to be known primarily for the tragedies in their lives, rather than for their lightness. Artist Frida Kahlo is often thought of in the context of her lifelong health travails and her torrid, sometimes violent romance with another larger-than-life Mexican painter, Diego Rivera. But, fiercely optimistic, Kahlo surrounded herself with beauty and brilliance — not only in the art for which she is so well known, but also in life. She had numerous friends and lovers. She painted her home a bright cobalt blue and called it Casa Azul. (Poet Carlos Pellicer said “the house … seems to lodge a bit of heaven.”) And she was deeply committed to social justice. “I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution,” she said. That was, for her, “the only real reason for living.”
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Newbie
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Newbie
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Hi, “Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don't let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others' prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.”
[url=https://cardgamesforadults.com/solitaire-card-games/]Card Game For Adult[/url]
Last edited by Cheap men glasses; 08/03/21 06:37 AM.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I'm reading a bio on Leonardo Da Vinci. Your note above sounds like his life.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
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You don't always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that's plenty.
Alice Walker
Since writing her first poetry book in 1968, Alice Walker has gone on to publish more than 30 literary works, including her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Color Purple," and has spent decades advocating for women’s rights and civil rights. But through all this activity she maintains a sense of stillness, of just being. This quote is a welcome invitation to slow down and take in the simple joys of living — or, as Walker put it, to feel connected to and loved by the universe.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Albert Einstein
Born in Germany in 1879, physicist Albert Einstein was a curious, independent thinker from an early age. He worked as a clerk in a Swiss patent office as a young man while developing his groundbreaking theories regarding energy, space, time, and gravity. He excelled in visualizing his ideas and creating new explanations for stubborn scientific mysteries, often going against popular opinion and academic tradition. Instead, he applied his imaginative and analytical powers to many complex topics, including time travel, black holes, and atomic energy. Einstein’s studies earned him a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, and his work continues to demonstrate the enormous potential of an inquisitive and flexible mind.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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A small act is worth a million thoughts.
Ai Weiwei
The Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is often called a provocateur for the way his work — and outspoken support of freedom and human rights — has challenged the government, resulting in arrests and detainment by authorities. He is also considered one of the greatest living conceptual artists. This quote refers to his 2009 call for an internet strike in reaction to a proposed censorship law in China. “It’s an act, rather than just talk,” Ai Weiwei said in an interview about the protest. His words remind us that's it's not always enough to just talk about ideas or plans. In activism as in life, taking action, no matter how small, is crucial in achieving our dreams.
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Amoeba
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Amoeba
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 92 Likes: 1 |
Interesting. I would also love to check that out when I get the chance.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The first wealth is health.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
American philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson founded the Transcendentalist movement, which valued a strong connection to nature above all. He believed that good physical health strengthens our instinct to choose experiences that make life rich and full. Emerson lived out these beliefs, balancing a quiet life in the woods of Concord, Massachusetts with his travels across the United States and Europe giving lectures. When he developed memory problems later in life, he slowed his pace so he could preserve his health and still publish his writing. He reminds us that taking care of ourselves, both physically and mentally, is a crucial part of living out our goals and dreams.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
Amelia Earhart
This encouraging sentiment is the opening line of the poem “Courage” by Amelia Earhart, who was not only a pioneering aviator but also an accomplished writer and poet. And she certainly knew something about courage. The poem, written in 1927 shortly before Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, is an intimate peek into the trailblazer’s mind and motivation. She reflects that courage brings joy, and the willingness to push boundaries is the cost of admission to a fulfilling and vibrant life. It is no small price to pay, because bravery can only exist where there is also fear. But without courage, we can't experience true freedom or inner peace.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
Friedrich Nietzsche
One of the most influential modern intellectuals, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first penned this sentiment in 1889. It has since undergone numerous and varied translations into English, but the core idea remains in every iteration. Having a strong purpose in life gives us a reason to continue on through adversity, and inspires us to find a way past any obstacles that may present themselves.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
Madeleine L'Engle
Writer Madeleine L’Engle wasn’t limited by getting older: In fact, she didn’t publish her Newbery Medal-winning book “A Wrinkle in Time” until age 44. She always maintained that her diverse life experiences helped inform not just her writing career but also her personal life and philosophy. L’Engle’s quote above reminds us that we don’t have to dread aging. Though society often glorifies youth, getting older is actually an advantage, because every day adds to our collected experience, growing our confidence, intelligence, and wisdom.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Trust your gut. Forgive yourself. Be grateful.
Cheryl Strayed
In her breakout memoir, “Wild,” author Cheryl Strayed recounts her solo thousand-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. For a woman traveling alone and a backpacking novice, reeling from her mother’s death and a recent divorce, it was a risky journey to undertake. But Strayed’s mental and physical journey gave her an anchor in arguably the hardest time of her young life. Strayed’s commitment to self-compassion in the face of adversity is a testament to how much we can survive by trusting our own internal compass. By forgiving ourselves our missteps and recognizing what we do have, we can move forward in new, exciting ways.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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When I grow up, I’m gonna look up from my phone and see my life.
Phoebe Bridgers
Singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers is known for her insightful lyrics, which often put existential questions in conversational context. She frequently waxes on themes of nostalgia, reaching for memories rather than the present moment. But these lyrics, from the track “Garden Song” off the 2020 album “Punisher,” offer a rare exception. Bridgers calls out her own distraction by technology, something many of us can likely relate to. Her words warn us not to get so lost in our screens that we miss what’s actually happening, and invite us to choose being present in order to live more fully.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive.
Maya Angelou
The poet Maya Angelou was eight years old when she suffered a trauma that left her ashamed of her own voice, and caused her to go mute for nearly five years. “I thought I would never speak again,” she recalled years later. For her, the process of self-forgiveness was a process of recognizing the power of her own voice. Finding her voice saved her — and continued to save her. “All these 60-odd years later,” she said in 2010, “if I am really shaken, I stop speaking — and I, then, bring myself out. I start. I sing. I speak. I speak loudly and firmly. Recite Poe and Shakespeare and James Weldon Johnson, and all, and all, and do it.”
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Be happy, take care of your teeth, always let your conscience be your guide.
Patti Smith
Pratt Institute’s class of 2010 had a kindred spirit in their commencement speaker. Punk troubadour Patti Smith was about the Brooklyn art school graduates’ age in 1967 when, like them, she moved to New York City to be an artist. Smith succeeded by refusing to confine herself to a single medium, and by interlacing her work with activism. Today, she’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an award-winning author, and a visual artist whose drawings, silkscreens, and photographs have exhibited on three continents. Yet her humble (and humorous) parting advice underscores the importance of pure motives. “Pac[e] the floor because your muse is burning inside of you,” she said. “You don’t want to be pacing because you need a damn root canal.”
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time.
Brené Brown
In her 2012 book “Daring Greatly,” researcher and best-selling author Brené Brown explores the topics of courage and vulnerability, encouraging readers to acknowledge their fears and turn toward them. With this quote she reminds us that we get better at the things we practice, even when what we’re practicing is courage itself. Every time we take a risk we exercise that muscle, getting a little stronger and a little braver, until the things that once seemed impossible become routine.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard
The theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is widely considered to be the creator of existentialism. His studies led him to the idea that reflecting on our past and learning from previous experiences helps us understand our place in the world. Still, life must not be lived in the past. This quote warns us not to dwell on past regret or resentment. We have to let go in order to move forward — which is the only direction life can go.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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UMMMMMM,
To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.
Oscar Wilde
Legendary Irish writer Oscar Wilde was a vibrant figure of late-19th-century society. He was a member of the Aesthetic movement, which upheld “art for art’s sake.” He was known as a finely dressed, decadent, and outspoken man who never tried to blend in with the crowd. Along with famous one-liners like this one, he’s well known for his books such as "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" and satirical plays such as “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Through these comedies, Wilde mocked the hypocrisies of high society, and let his sharp wit run wild, as it were. Wilde married a woman and became a father, but also had relationships with men, and was famously imprisoned for homosexuality for two years. He lived as his fullest self and openly shared his loves, tastes, and opinions, regardless of what others thought. When we validate and love ourselves, we find we have a true companion for life.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost
On his 80th birthday, Robert Frost was asked, “In all your years and all your travels, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about life?” You would think someone like Frost, who won the Pulitzer Prize four times, would give a colorful and poetic response, but his abridged reply was just as moving in its simplicity: “It goes on.” While Frost’s work is widely celebrated, his personal life was marked with tragedy. He lost both his parents at a young age, and outlived four of his six children before losing his wife. Yet still, life went on, and Frost found more opportunities for love and laughter. Regardless of the pain we may face, it is always possible that the best is yet to come.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
Seneca
The Roman philosopher Seneca grew up during the first century CE in a high-born patrician family in ancient Rome. This granted him an education in philosophy and rhetoric. His oratory skills earned him a seat in the Senate and a role as Emperor Nero's advisor. Seneca's intellectual prowess formed from great practice and effort, which led him to elegantly point out that just as physical muscles grow under strain and stress, our “mental muscle” strengthens with challenges. If you want your mind to grow, give it plenty of opportunities for exercise.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.
Albert Camus
The French philosopher and writer Albert Camus spent his life learning to overcome difficulty. Camus lived too many of his days during wartime, including World War II, unable to escape the German invasion of Paris. Camus joined the resistance and fought with his words as the editor-in-chief of an outlawed newspaper called "Combat." His clear and consistent writing on the human conscience won him the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957. As this quote suggests, it was his ability to adapt to his circumstances that protected his heart despite the tragedies he witnessed. And as he so movingly articulated, it is a fortuitous heart that has never been broken.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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What good is warmth without cold to give it sweetness?
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, where he spent the summers of his youth working on nearby ranches — the setting for much of his literary work, including "Of Mice and Men" and "East of Eden." His experiences gave him insights into the lives of the downtrodden, who often served as the protagonists in his novels. These struggles, not to mention living through the Great Depression, gave Steinbeck a greater appreciation for the good times he enjoyed. Steinbeck followed up the quote above with, "You only truly, deeply appreciate and are grateful for something when you compare and contrast it to something worse."
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Forgiveness is just another name for freedom.
Byron Katie
Speaker and author Byron Katie regularly encourages us to look inside and ask ourselves the hard questions in order to grow as people. She refers to it as “The Work,” a process that helps us to confront stressful thoughts and feelings and eliminate them from our lives. With anger, in particular, whether it’s directed at ourselves or someone else, we’re held captive by those negative emotions. Until we forgive whatever caused the hurt, we’ll never be free from that negativity. So forgiveness actually becomes a form of self-care, allowing us to move forward unencumbered, to enjoy the freedom and lightness that comes from letting go.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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In the depths of Winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus
French Algerian writer Albert Camus grappled with many philosophical questions, including the meaning of life and how to weather its difficulties. In novels, plays, and essays, the Nobel Prize winner explored the depths, heights, and wonders of our existence. This quote was penned in a series of essays published in 1968, in which Camus urged humankind to persevere through adversity. In this volume, he wrote about recovering from World War II: “We must mend what has been torn apart” and “give happiness a meaning once more.” While Camus’ words on resilience were inspired by the specific struggles of his era, his hopefulness and belief that light outlives the dark is timeless.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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If you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Arguably the most influential architect of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright believed passionately in the importance of beautiful buildings that complemented the natural environment. Drawing on his love for the landscapes of Wisconsin, where he spent much of his youth, he created a uniquely American style known as organic architecture. Many of his more than 1,000 building designs feature wide-open spaces, large windows, and an emphasis on horizontal rather than vertical construction. He was also an early adopter of green building practices such as solar heating and natural cooling. Wright once said he wanted to create architecture that “belonged where you see it standing” and was a “grace to the landscape.” His passionate belief that our living and work spaces should and could be beautiful made a lasting impression on architecture around the world.
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Chimpanzee
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Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.
Ella Fitzgerald
A quarter century after her death, the timeless legacy of Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song," endures. She triumphed over cultural roadblocks and personal struggles, and paved the way for other Black performers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald was born in racially segregated Virginia in 1917 and had a tumultuous youth. Then, after an amateur audition at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre in 1934, she found a true home on the stage. Fitzgerald said, "I felt the acceptance and love from my audience. I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life." She went on to build a successful solo career, while also teaming up with greats like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie. Her passion for music, her beautiful and unique jazz singing style, and her ability to connect with the audience led her to win 13 Grammys, including the first awarded to a Black woman. Her wise words and illustrious career remind us of the power of doing what we love.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I can be someone’s and still be my own.
Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein’s life philosophy imbued his vast body of work. The poet, artist, playwright, best-selling author, and Grammy-winning songwriter slipped this insight into a conversation between anthropomorphized shapes in his picture book “The Missing Piece.” Published in 1976, the book follows a Pac-Man-precursing figure on an epic search for its lost segment. Upon rolling into a complementary chunk’s path, the protagonist tentatively asks, “Maybe you want to be your own piece?” The piece responds by asserting its agency. Silverstein was advocating for audiences of any age — including his then-six-year-old daughter — to build identities beyond their connections with others.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm, the first Black U.S. congresswoman and first Black candidate to make a bid for a major party presidential nomination, invited herself to many tables of power. A teacher by training, she represented New York state in the House of Representatives from 1968 to 1983. While she did not win the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, she ran a spirited campaign with the slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed.” She was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and active in the NAACP. Throughout her life, Chisholm fought for the rights of women and people of color. She did not wait for permission to stand up for her community, and encouraged others who were underrepresented to take their own rightful place in government.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.
Alexander Graham Bell
A Scottish-born American inventor, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) is famous for introducing the world to the telephone. In 1876, after placing his first phone call to his assistant in the next room, Bell filed what is widely thought to be the most valuable patent in history. With this quote, the inventor extols the virtue of action, reminding us that no failure remains such, if we keep working to turn it into a success.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Education must not simply teach work - it must teach Life.
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was the first Black American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and he went on to be a founding member of the NAACP. This quote is pulled from an influential essay Du Bois published in 1903 in response to what he, and several other Black thought leaders of the time, saw as an overemphasis on industrial training for people of color. He feared that without multidisciplinary education, Black Americans would be forever relegated to second-class citizenry, barred from higher levels of leadership in both business and politics. “Work alone will not [uplift a people],” he wrote, “unless inspired by the right ideals and guided by intelligence.” The sentiment is as true today as it was in 1903.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Seneca
The philosopher Seneca contributed largely to an ancient Roman school of thought called Stoicism: the idea that, in life, some things are under our control, and some are not. Seneca’s quote here reminds us that we cannot dictate circumstance, but we can work hard and train in our chosen vocation so that when opportunity presents itself, we’re ready.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf, a celebrated 20th-century English writer, wrote often about truth, including this quote from a lecture she gave in 1940. In the lecture, she examined the circumstances and characteristics that form great writers. One virtue in her mind that stood above the rest was truth. Woolf believed that honesty breeds creativity, but the writer must tell all truths, including the unpleasant ones. It's difficult to openly paint ourselves as petty, vain, mean, selfish, unfaithful, or unsuccessful. But only after we take an honest look at ourselves are we able to see the truth in others.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney
In many ways, the creation of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland — ”the happiest place on Earth” — is the embodiment of dreams coming true. Almost everything Walt Disney introduced to the world first began as a dream. A pioneer of feature-length cartoons, he had to develop innovative advancements in cinema sound, technicolor, and cameras to make his ideas a reality. But to bring a vision to life also requires courage, and lots of it. We all have dreams, and like Disney, we may face obstacles on our way to pursuing them — but we should never let fear be one of them.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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When we sow a seed, we plant a narrative of future possibility.
Sue Stuart-Smith
Sue Stuart-Smith is an author and prominent psychotherapist who believes gardening can help us process our thoughts and feelings. In her popular book, “The Well-Gardened Mind,” she describes the garden as a powerful space that mirrors our inner world. As we tend to the plants, we tend to ourselves. Within this mindset, the act of sowing and caring for a seed is also a hopeful investment in our own future. The time and labor we put into a garden comes back to us manyfold, not only through the beautiful and delicious plants we can enjoy, but in the healing benefits of slowing our pace, breathing fresh air, and connecting with nature.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.
Neil Gaiman
Award-winning English author Neil Gaiman set out to write a short story for his daughter’s 18th birthday. But after two years, he only had three pages to show for his efforts. Then, over the course of three stressful days, he found a healthy distraction from the stress by diving into the story — and he found an ending, around 20 pages later. This hopeful sentiment was weaved into Gaiman’s reflection on the burst of creativity that produced his story “Sunbird.” Besides reminding people that they still have agency during life’s most challenging times, Gaiman explains that making art forges connections if the work is shared. Perhaps that’s why he has also written novels, graphic novels, comics, journalism, screenplays, and poetry.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s plays often consider themes of change and metamorphosis, and these words from “Hamlet” are no exception. The character Ophelia goes mad after Prince Hamlet kills her father, and her remarks here can refer to both her father’s unexpected death and her own uncertain future. Shakespeare often wrote about personal transformation, in tales of enemies becoming lovers, or poor men becoming rich; he himself rose from a back-alley writer to a royal playwright. His words offer a twofold reminder: to be grateful for what we have in the present, and always hopeful about the possibility ahead.
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Chimpanzee
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What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?
George Eliot
In 19th-century England, a young writer named Mary Ann Evans assumed the pen name George Eliot and began publishing novels that were acclaimed for their realistic character development and compelling plotlines. This quote (originally published with slightly different wording) is from her fourth major work, “Middlemarch,” which is widely considered to be unsurpassed among novels of the Victorian age. The line was picked up and disseminated with slight variations appearing in subsequent publications, but the sentiment remains consistent: To be of service to the people in our lives is one of the most important things we can do with our time.
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Chimpanzee
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Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.
Les Brown
If you have dreams that feel just out of reach because fear keeps you from chasing after them, you’re not alone. As motivational speaker Les Brown warns with this quote, too many of us allow caution to limit our aspirations and potential. Instead of going after what we truly want, we let the fearful whispers of failure hold us back. But that nagging question — “What happens if I don’t make it?” — isn’t as scary as another question: “What happens if I don’t try?”
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Chimpanzee
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What I am is good enough if I would only be it openly.
Carl Rogers
As one of the founders of the humanistic psychology movement, Carl Rogers had a pioneering approach to studying the mind. His research focused on understanding the individual’s personality and relationships, and he believed that how we see ourselves affects the way others will see us. Instead of focusing on the dark impulses of humanity like many of his peers, Rogers noted that most people have positive intentions. As seen in this quote, he suggested that by letting people be their authentic selves, we become more accepting of both ourselves and each other.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer, artist, and lively socialite whose beauty captured the attention of author F. Scott Fitzgerald when she was a young debutante in Montgomery, Alabama. Though their marriage was often turbulent, the pair inspired and encouraged each other’s creative work, each serving as a muse for the other. Their love often found its way onto the pages of their writing, such as this line from Zelda Fitzgerald’s 1932 novel “Save Me the Waltz,” which closely parallels her own life and marriage.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.
Ruth Gordon
An actress turned writer, Ruth Gordon was familiar with courage as a perpetual exercise. After a Broadway debut and a handful of successful films in the 1940s, she took a 22-year absence from movies, preferring the visceral courage of stage acting. After marrying screenwriter Garson Kanin, Gordon dove into new territory once again by collaborating with him on screenplays, netting several Oscar nominations. When she did return to the screen, her quirky characters — in films like "Rosemary's Baby" and "Harold and Maude" — made her a cult favorite. Gordon’s commitment to new ventures inspires us to embrace unfamiliar experiences: The more we do, the less frightening they’ll be, and the more we can grow.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Mind is a flexible mirror, adjust it, to see a better world.
Amit Ray
Perspective can make a world of difference. According to Amit Ray, a spiritual master known for his teachings on meditation, yoga, peace, and compassion, changing your point of view can improve how you see the world. If your mind chooses to see the best in people, it will. But the opposite is true too. If you focus only on the things that go wrong in your day, it will seem like the world is out to get you. In other words, what we experience mirrors our own perspective, and we can adjust it to get a better view.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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It is not easy to be a pioneer - but oh, it is fascinating!
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first American woman to receive a degree in medicine. Despite being excluded by professors and classmates alike, Blackwell graduated at the top of her class in 1849. She interned at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where she met Florence Nightingale, and the two women fought together for better hospital conditions. Blackwell then returned to New York, where she opened a small clinic to serve disadvantaged women and children. During the Civil War, she trained nurses for Union hospitals, and in 1868 she opened a medical college, eventually becoming a professor of gynecology. She published several books in her later years, including an autobiography in 1895, which recounts her difficult but fascinating pioneering work.
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Chimpanzee
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The measure of a man's greatness is not the number of servants he has, but the number of people he serves. - John Hagee
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Chimpanzee
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You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down.
Charlie Chaplin
Donning a short, thick mustache, dusty top hat, and thin wooden cane, Charlie Chaplin’s comedic character “The Tramp” is inarguably the most memorable figure of the silent film era. This quote is from the song “Swing High Little Girl,” which Chaplin wrote and sang for the opening credits of his 1928 silent film “The Circus” when it was rereleased with a new score in 1969. The lyrics reflect the optimism found in much of Chaplin’s work. They suggest that success often requires expectation and enthusiasm — you have to keep your head up to find what you’re looking for.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Author Benjamin Alire Saenz wrote this line in his young adult novel “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.” The book’s protagonist is 15-year-old Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza, a quiet and lonely boy whose father comes home from the Vietnam War a changed man. At first, Ari is angry at his father’s uncommunicative and withdrawn manner, but as he matures, he is able to see it from a new perspective. Ari reflects, “And loved my father too, for the careful way he spoke. I came to understand that my father was a careful man.” Ari sees there is beauty in understanding the power our words can have.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Don't wait. The time will never be just right.
Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill was a well-known self-help author in the early 20th century, whose books conveyed a sense of urgency to take action. He understood that change can be scary, and because of this, many people hesitate before pursuing the things they truly want. It’s easy to tell ourselves the timing and circumstances aren’t perfect, and use that as an excuse to put things off until later. But Hill reminds us that the timing will never be "just right," and now is as good a time as any to get to work on chasing your dreams.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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No wise man ever wished to be younger.
Jonathan Swift
Throughout his adulthood, Dublin-born satirist and author Jonathan Swift suffered from an inner ear disorder that resulted in vertigo spells and hearing loss. Meniere’s disease, the culprit, did not receive a name during his lifetime. The uncertainty surrounding his ailment likely spurred Swift to ponder aging when the majority of his years lay ahead of him. In 1699, at age 32, he crafted an amusing list called, “When I Come to Be Old.” Yet this particular quote came later in Swift’s life, appearing in the essay “Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting.” In Swift’s time (like ours), people constantly yearned for their youth. To him, that was a foolish, fruitless impulse. Swift contended that discerning individuals savor the understanding that maturity brings.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.
Ernest Hemingway
Author Ernest Hemingway is known for his brusque, straightforward writing style, in both his narration and sentence structure. While Hemingway’s novels are renowned, his memoirs are equally respected, painting vivid and unflinching pictures of the First World War and Paris’ “Lost Generation” of artists. It’s no surprise, then, that Hemingway advised looking inward when setting forth to write. These words, from his Paris memoir “A Moveable Feast,” urge us to look for that spark in ourselves. Everything we need to start can be found within our own lives and experiences.
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Chimpanzee
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Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences.
Marcus Garvey
Jamaica-born Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was a civil rights activist and Black nationalist whose views often incited backlash. A public speaker and advocate, he led the Pan-Africanism movement, connecting people of African descent worldwide. However, his activism made him a target of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the FBI), resulting in his arrest and controversial 1923 conviction for mail fraud. Garvey continued to write papers even from prison, and after he was released, he went on to speak to the League of Nations about race. Garvey’s lifelong dedication shows us that committing to a cause can offset our fears and empower us beyond our imagination.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is the author of the acclaimed book “The Alchemist,” which has sold more than 65 million copies in 80 different languages. But it was a long and winding road to that success. Coelho dropped out of law school and pursued failed careers in acting, theater directing, journalism, and songwriting before becoming a celebrated author. What’s more, “The Alchemist,” first published in 1998, originally sold fewer than 1,000 copies, and the publisher decided not to reprint the book. But Coelho didn't give up. He kept trying and found another publisher willing to take a chance on him. His story shows that it’s not how many times you get knocked down that defines a life, but whether you have the strength and persistence to keep getting up and moving forward.
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Chimpanzee
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Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.
Jean Antoine Petit-Senn
Satirist and poet Jean Antoine Petit-Senn lived in Geneva during the 1800s and spent his days writing sharp satirical commentary. As is the case with many poets, Petit-Senn’s work was not fully appreciated until after his death, leaving him with little financial success during his lifetime. But as he states in this quote, “abundance” need not be measured by the amount of money or things we amass in our lifetime, but rather by the amount of passion, love, and joy we feel. Learning to appreciate what we have over longing for what we don’t brings peace and contentment, which is the secret to happiness
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.
John Maxwell
Author, speaker, and pastor John Maxwell believed in this message so thoroughly, he made it the title of his 2013 book about how to succeed. The quote is a play on the more common phrase, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” which Maxwell points out stops short of the crucial lesson. In order to keep moving forward and achieve our greatest dreams, we must also learn from those losses. If we apply that knowledge and wisdom the next time around, we’ll be that much closer to reaching our goals.
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1 member likes this:
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The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.
Epicurus
Epicurus was an ancient Greek thinker who taught a popular philosophy based on simple pleasures. He believed our purpose on Earth was to fill our days with happiness, avoiding fear and pain. But even Epicurus knew that life wasn’t without its difficulties. In this quote, he shares his belief that we can find joy in overcoming obstacles — and the more complex the task, the greater the satisfaction that awaits on the other side.
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The time is always ripe to do right.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this line in his 1963 “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” a message he addressed to clergymen who were critical of his nonviolent protests. This particular quote was King's response to calls for the racial justice movement to slow down and be patient. King described the liberation of Black Americans as woven into the overarching American goal of freedom. He urged his fellow clergymen and other bystanders to join this timely and urgent cause, because there is no wrong time to fight for justice.
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The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
Amelia Earhart
Most of us have dreams and goals we’d like to achieve, but how to go about reaching them can be so confusing and daunting that we never get started. With these words, pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart encourages us to take action — even if it’s just beginning with a baby step. Earhart herself was seemingly born for adventure. Despite overwhelming odds, she set many aviation records, including becoming the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Chimpanzee
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I always liked Lucille Ball
Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.
Lucille Ball
It takes a lot of confidence to become a successful performer, and if anyone knew that, it was Lucille Ball. The “I Love Lucy” star is one of the most popular entertainers of all time, but Ball had a rough upbringing in Jamestown, NY, where her family struggled to put food on the table. As a teen, she moved to New York City for drama school, where she worked hard to find her confidence in a competitive scene. Eventually, her belief in herself paid off. After getting her start as a model, she moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s to pursue a career in television, finally landing her breakout role in CBS’ “I Love Lucy,” co-starring with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz. In this quote, Ball credits confidence and self-love with her success, reflecting that "you really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Maybe I could absorb this saying and start the decluttering in my office.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao Tzu
It’s easy to dream, but finding the motivation to get started is often the hardest part of the journey toward our goals. The secret? Take it one step at a time. It’s a sentiment that’s summed up perfectly in this well-known proverb from the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who is considered the father of Taoism. It’s a simple metaphor, but a powerful motivator. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or discouraged when everything is ahead of us, but even our loftiest ambitions are achievable once we conjure the courage to take the first step.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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We can always begin again.
Sharon Salzberg
Meditation guru Sharon Salzburg shared this important message as the finishing remark to her followers after a month-long meditation challenge in 2013. She recognized that meditation — like life — is a challenge, but we don’t need to be perfect on the first try. We can fail, and then learn from our mistakes. As long as we’re gentle with ourselves, we can always start over.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Our heads are round so thought can change direction.
Francis Picabia
This observation comes from French painter Francis Picabia, whose career embodied this idea so perfectly the quote was chosen as the title of a Museum of Modern Art exhibit about his life’s work. A singularly eclectic and unpredictable artist, Picabia was known for challenging conventional modernist art and frequently changing his own artistic style. His words and art remind us that creating something truly innovative requires being able to think flexibly, always staying open to new approaches, ideas, and possibilities.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Reach out your hand if your cup be empty, if your cup is full may it be again.
Robert Hunter
Some Grateful Dead lyrics are pure poetry, like this one from the song “Ripple” off the 1970 album “American Beauty.” In the song, the cupbearer is reaching out to an ethereal fountain that seems to represent the kindness of others. The line, written by the band’s enigmatic lyricist, Robert Hunter, is a beautiful expression of generosity. It suggests a simple, genuine wish for a friend’s happiness, and a willingness to help.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi was a 17th-century Japanese samurai, artist, and writer known for his undefeated fighting record and philosophical work. After retiring from dueling, the swordsman turned to his community, mentoring students and sharing wisdom through his writing. This quote is part of the “Dokkōdō,” a short work written just before his death, which lays out tenets for an honest and simple life. His words here encourage us to extend our compassion outward, and find meaning in life by helping others.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
Oscar Wilde
Droll yet poignant, this line uttered by Mr. Dumby, a character created by Oscar Wilde for his 1892 play “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” expresses the value of learning from our errors. Remembered for his witty epigraphs as much as his groundbreaking satirical works, Wilde wrote of the follies and foibles of the upper class in Victorian England, and often brought his characters redemption through a hard-earned lesson. The Irish playwright reminds us that we all mess up from time to time, but we can extract valuable wisdom from those mistakes.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The soul would have no rainbow, had the eyes no tears.
John Vance Cheney
Writer and librarian John Vance Cheney often chose nature as his muse. Here he suggests that sadness, like rain, is a normal part of life, and just as a storm gives way to clearer skies, a good cry is often followed by a period of greater clarity. Cheney believed passing through sadness could engender a beautiful opening and expression of the soul, like a rainbow after a storm. This quote is reflective of much of Cheney’s creative writing, which often succinctly draws the reader's attention to the wonders of the natural world and their parallels and reverberations within the human spirit.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Feel compliments as deeply as you feel insults.
James Clear
James Clear’s trajectory toward becoming a behavioral science expert began in high school, when he spent many months recovering from a life-threatening sports injury. Slowing down caused him to study others’ actions and take inventory of his own thought patterns. The author of the bestselling “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” noticed the shared tendency to downplay praise and amplify criticism. In September 2021, Clear shared this insight in his email newsletter: “It’s crazy how 1,000 people can compliment you and you’ll spend all day thinking about the one person who criticized you.” He encourages us to instead take time to appreciate each bit of recognition, a practice that promotes active listening and a healthy sense of self-worth.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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With confidence, you have won before you have started.
Marcus Garvey
Possessing a strong sense of who you are and what you are capable of can carry you a long way in reaching your goals. The opposite is also true: Taking on a difficult task while full of self-doubt and pessimism often leads to failure. Marcus Garvey, a Black leader and activist in the early 20th century, believed this so thoroughly that he saw confidence as a victory in itself. He said, “If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life.”
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another’s. We see so much only as we possess.
Henry David Thoreau
Best known for his book “Walden,” a series of essays about his time living alone in nature, Henry David Thoreau valued deep introspection over materialism. Rooted in his Transcendentalist belief in spirituality and simple virtues, Thoreau’s work often encourages the reader to be guided by their personal values, rather than societal expectations. It makes sense that what we value in others would already be present in us, be it kindness or courage. Thoreau reminds us that we are our own role models: In surrounding ourselves with people we admire, we realize the kind of people we are.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live.
Criss Jami
American poet, philosopher, and essayist Criss Jami, sometimes known by his alter ego “TheKillosopher,” poses a unique challenge to readers of his 2015 book, “Killosophy.” The author asserts that perhaps our time on Earth is best spent in devotion to something — a cause, a community, a religion — rather than in pursuit of lifestyles defined and critiqued by an ever-changing culture.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Squire Bill Widener
This line was made famous by President Theodore Roosevelt, but he was actually quoting a Virginian soldier and community leader named Squire Bill Widener. Published in Roosevelt’s 1913 autobiography, this succinct quote summarizes the former President’s philosophy on life: that devotion to the pursuit of mere pleasure and success is hollow in comparison to a life lived dutifully for the people right in front of you. “Why, the greatest happiness,” Roosevelt wrote, “is the happiness that comes as a by-product of striving to do what must be done.”
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people. Now 86 years old (as of October 2021), he has spent a lifetime advocating for peace and kindness. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his five-point plan to restore peace between Tibet and China. He has traveled abroad more than any of his predecessors, citing the importance of responsibility and compassion between people from different backgrounds. His teachings guide us toward a more expansive idea of happiness — one that is founded on extending care to other people as well as ourselves.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.
Stevie Wonder
Though he was born with a disorder that led to blindness, musician Stevie Wonder was so gifted and passionate about music that by the age of 10, he had already taught himself multiple instruments. At age 11, he was discovered by a Motown music executive and signed to a record deal. Still, Wonder never rested on his laurels, choosing instead to push himself. He studied classical piano, sought out mentors, and promoted social issues through music (including recording the 1985 charity single “We Are The World”). This quote reminds us that everyone can have an impact, no matter our circumstances — but it’s up to us to harness our unique skills.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
Warren Buffett
Billionaire investor and business magnate Warren Buffett’s description of shade on a warm, sunny day is a perfect metaphor for the importance of long-term thinking and investing in the future. When we realize our actions can either help or harm our future selves — or later generations — the choices we make become immensely impactful. It may require sacrifice and hard work today, but we will surely be thankful for our efforts in the long run.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Whoever is happy will make others happy too.
Anne Frank
Anne Frank’s legacy of unshakeable hope gives great weight to this quote, which she wrote in her diary while enduring the horrors faced by Jewish families during the Holocaust. Entries Frank wrote while in hiding prove the young girl understood the infectious quality of happiness, and the importance of spreading joy during times of suffering.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
Montesquieu
A French political theorist of the Enlightenment era, the Baron de Montesquieu was familiar with the slow-moving nature of success. Though active in his local parliament and scientific academy, Montesquieu did not attain literary fame until nearly a decade into his career, with his epistolary novel, “Persian Letters.” He traveled abroad extensively to study governments across Europe, leading to some of his best-known writing. Montesquieu even considered a diplomatic career, but realized establishing it would take too long, choosing instead to devote himself further to his writing. His words and commitment to his work encourage us to be patient with our ambitions, giving each step the attention it needs so that we can continue to grow.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Dare to be naïve.
Buckminster Fuller
Inventor Buckminster Fuller was not a fan of know-it-alls. As you might expect, the visionary who engineered the Montreal Biosphere in 1967 was insatiably curious, a quality that fueled his passions for architecture, futurism, philosophy, and poetry. This sentiment permeated Fuller’s bibliography of more than 30 books. “It is one of our most exciting discoveries that local discovery leads to a complex of further discoveries,” he wrote in 1975’s “Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, Volume One.” In his opinion, it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali writer gifted in many mediums, from short stories and essays to songs and plays. In 1913, he became the first non-European writer in history to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature. Three years later, Tagore published “Stray Birds,” a collection of 326 philosophical verses and brief poems that includes this line. Despite his talents, Tagore understood that the best human trait is a modest and unassuming nature, which enables us to listen well, form unexpected bonds, and learn from others.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
Each Wednesday for the majority of 12 years (from 1919 to 1931), future five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mahatma Gandhi published “Young India,” an English-language journal that encouraged his followers to utilize nonviolent tactics for bettering their political and social status. His streak was interrupted when a pair of articles procured him a six-year prison sentence in Bombay (now Mumbai) for sedition. After two years, appendicitis led to Gandhi’s release, and neither the ailment nor his recent imprisonment kept him from resuming his entries. In an April 1931 issue, the lawyer, politician, and activist introduced the above wisdom. By refusing to hold grudges against even the most hostile forces, Gandhi cultivated his characteristic resilience.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.
Benjamin Franklin
Under the pseudonym “Poor Richard,” Benjamin Franklin wrote this aphorism in an edition of his yearly almanac, a collection of information, advice, and sayings published from 1733 to 1760. With these words, the founding father, inventor, and political philosopher draws a distinct line between the virtues of faith and reason. He asserts that logic can often get in the way of the cultivation of faith, whether in a deity or the belief in an idea or person. Clinging too closely to what we know, Franklin warns, can obscure the vastness of what we still have yet to learn.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania.
Great necessities call out great virtues.
Abigail Adams
It is in times of need, distress, and reckoning that great women and men rise to the occasion and act. First Lady Abigail Adams, along with her colonial American compatriots, witnessed countless examples of courage, sacrifice, humility, and honor during the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. In 1780, amid the trials of the Revolutionary War, Adams wrote these words in a letter to her young son, John Quincy Adams, to remind him that hard times require us to act on our best qualities.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Love is free; it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends.
Pope Benedict XVI
Perhaps the most universally sacred virtue, love is most valuable when it is practiced purely and with no expectation of reward. Pope Benedict XVI summarized this concept in "Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), his first encyclical letter (a papal letter written to the Roman Catholic bishops) after his appointment as pope in 2005. This rumination on love — in both its earthly and divine forms — emphasizes its unconditional and generous nature, which seeks nothing in return.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
Ludwig van Beethoven
In a letter to German poet and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer Bettina von Arnim quoted this line first spoken by her friend Ludwig von Beethoven, whose musical ability had by that point (the early 1800s) taken Europe by storm. In the view of the virtuoso, the unspeakable quality of music to uncover deep emotion and understanding surpasses that of any works by sages and philosophers. For Beethoven, to hear and be moved by a musical composition is to experience the highest intellectual state.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention.
Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg is a spiritual leader and meditation teacher who helped introduce Buddhist practices into Western culture in the 1970s. After a tumultuous childhood, Salzberg discovered meditation as a way to temper the chaos in her life. Her interest led her first to India for years of study, and then back to the U.S. where she co-founded the Insight Meditation Society. This quote comes from Salzberg’s book “Lovingkindness,” which encourages self-compassion as the first step to changing our perspective. We have more control over our outlook than we think, if we can learn to choose where to focus our energy.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou’s life was anything but normal. At the age of 16, she became the first Black woman to drive a San Francisco cable car. Later, after training as a dancer, actress, and singer, she toured with the musical “Porgy and Bess.” She also recorded an album of calypso music, wrote and acted in plays, composed film soundtracks, and organized protests against racial discrimination. Though she is now known primarily as a poet and autobiographer, she never limited herself to just one identity. Even Angelou’s writing practice might seem a bit eccentric: She would check herself into a hotel room in the morning with a legal pad, deck of cards, Bible, thesaurus, and a bottle of sherry, and write until early afternoon. The goal, as she put it, was to “enchant” herself: to "relive the agony, the anguish,” and to feel at last the ecstatic relief of telling her truth.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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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.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I remember Helen Keller. What an awesome person.
A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.
Helen Keller
Helen Keller knew more than her fair share of hardships. After a series of illnesses, she lost her sight and hearing before her second birthday. Instead of letting her struggles define her, Keller became famous for her unique ability to overcome. Her first teacher, Anne Sullivan, introduced her to language and taught Keller how to read and write. Keller later qualified for Radcliffe College of Harvard University, where she became the first deaf and blind person to receive a college diploma in the United States. As she often said, she found happiness in life by facing adversity with remarkable hope and optimism.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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I change myself, I change the world.
Gloria Anzaldúa
Gloria Anzaldúa was a Chicana poet and feminist theorist whose work often centered on intersectional identities. Born to a family of field workers on the Texas-Mexico border, Anzaldúa worked hard to earn a master’s degree in English and became a professor, simultaneously working with political groups such as farm worker collectives and feminist organizations. Anzaldúa’s writing often grapples with identity, and how it can shape not only our place in a community, but also our outlook on the world. The words above, from her 1987 book “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza,” are a reminder that working on our own personal development is the first step to shifting the world around us. In breaking down our own barriers, we make ourselves more effective vessels for change.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
Will Durant
Historian and philosopher Will Durant is best known for co-authoring “The Story of Civilization,” an 11-volume series on Western history that he wrote with his wife Ariel Durant, originally published in 1935. His writings often synthesized complex philosophy concepts and historical events into digestible narratives for the modern reader. Though he was a professor and doctorate holder, Durant’s life wasn’t governed solely by studying. His material support of women’s suffrage and fairer working conditions equally guided his ideas about intolerance, morality, and justice. His words here encourage us to draw wisdom from our experiences as much as from learned knowledge.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.
Pericles
Reading almost like a Russian nesting doll of wisdom, this quote from the ancient Greek statesman Pericles gives us a step-by-step understanding of how to achieve happiness, which, for him, begins with courage. In this formula, Pericles posits that in order to find joy and contentment in this life, we must have the liberty of choice, and to achieve and maintain that freedom, we must have ironclad will and unwavering devotion to our convictions.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Life is a collection of moments. Mindfulness is beautification of the moments.
Amit Ray
Author and spiritual teacher Amit Ray often uses meditation as a technique to teach compassion and peace — within oneself and toward others. In this quote, Ray encourages living in the moment. Unless we are mindful of the present, time can slip past us without our awareness. But when we become more intentional about taking in and appreciating every moment, life takes on more beauty. Every occasion has the potential to be breathtaking — we just have to notice it.
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Chimpanzee
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Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.
Ron Shelton
Known as America's pastime, baseball is a game full of superstitions and stories. This quote is given by a fictional pitcher, Nuke LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins), in the movie “Bull Durham,” written by screenwriter and director Ron Shelton. A former minor leaguer himself, Shelton accurately spoke about the unpredictability of the game — and life itself. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes the better team loses, and sometimes, it rains.
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Chimpanzee
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In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Alex Haley
Writer Alex Haley explored family deeply in his work, namely in his book “Roots,” which was adapted into the 1977 award-winning TV miniseries of the same name. The book depicts Haley’s own ancestors, who were abducted from Gambia and sold into slavery in the American South, and follows that lineage until Haley himself. Often focusing on Black stories and communities in his writing, Haley was adamant that family history is crucial in shaping one’s identity. Though family can be complicated, those ties can tell us plenty about ourselves — and where we want to go from here.
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Chimpanzee
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The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.
Richard Bach
Before becoming a beloved writer of the 1970s, Richard Bach had a considerable career as a pilot. He first experienced the wonder of flying at age 14, and went on to serve as an aviator in the military as well as film shoots and flying circuses. These experiences influenced his 1970 novel “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” a story of a gull who flies for enjoyment rather than survival. Bach prioritized that sense of wonder throughout his life, and his philosophy invites us not to let fear stand in the way of seeking new experiences. In fact, it’s often when we push past that initial resistance that we stumble upon something truly wondrous.
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Chimpanzee
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Only by not forgetting the past can we be the master of the future.
Ba Jin
The work of prolific Chinese writer Ba Jin often took the form of social commentary. His most famous novel, “Jia,” criticized the traditional Chinese family system. His work labeled him a counterrevolutionary during the country’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, and he was ostracized from society. In the early 2000s, Ba Jin called for the creation of an official Cultural Revolution museum to document the impact of the era, believing this would prevent China from repeating past mistakes. (Though a museum did open in 2005, it was covered up by the Chinese authorities less than a decade later.) With this quote, Ba Jin points out that no experience exists in a vacuum. By reflecting on where we’ve been, we can chart the course ahead to steer us in a better direction.
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Chimpanzee
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Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
Martha Graham
Dance is one of the most natural expressions of emotion that we have as humans, and to try to grade it in terms of “good” or “bad” is to undermine the whole point. Modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham was one of the most talented and famous dancers of the 20th century, and even she knew it didn’t matter if you could dance well — just let go of your inhibition and experience the joy of moving to the music. It’s a lesson that can be applied to all areas of life: Fear of imperfection should never cause us to miss out on life’s wonders.
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Chimpanzee
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It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.
James Thurber
In 1940, “New Yorker” veteran James Thurber published a children’s book — “Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated” — in which each story ends with a crisp moral. The above quote is the moral of “The Scotty Who Knew Too Much,” a parable about a presumptuous Scottish terrier who instigates hapless run-ins with a skunk, a porcupine, and a farm dog. No one has all the answers, and Thurber posits that pretending otherwise will get you into trouble. He encourages all generations to remember that curiosity is a sign of respect, and indicates a willingness to learn, and grow, from the presence of outside perspectives.
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Chimpanzee
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Do not fear mistakes, there are none.
Miles Davis
Musical virtuoso Miles Davis assembled some of history’s most venerable jazz ensembles. Unbeknownst to audiences, he could also mentor his fellow musicians midway through a world-famous trumpet solo. Pianist Herbie Hancock — a member of Davis’ Second Great Quintet — fondly recalled one such instance. During a 1960s concert in Stuttgart, Germany, Hancock played what he judged as a very pronounced wrong chord. Covering his ears, he feared he had “reduced that great night to rubble.” An innate improviser, Davis responded with a series of notes that made Hancock’s chord sound intentional. “He did what any jazz musician should always try to do, and that is to make anything that happens into something of value,” Hancock said. It reminds us that so-called missteps are often just what we need to blaze a new trail.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.
Anaïs Nin
In a beautiful meditation on the power of friendship, French diarist and essayist Anaïs Nin wrote in 1937 that each person we meet and befriend invites us to explore more of ourselves and discover new insights. Our interests, personalities, dreams, hopes, and thoughts are made richer and brighter when shared with someone else, and sometimes it takes the arrival of a new friend to awaken our truest identities.
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Chimpanzee
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The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.
Alfred Adler
Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler was among the early pioneers of family and group counseling. One reason for his 1911 break with compatriot Sigmund Freud was that Adler believed external factors, such as adult relationships and employment, should be accounted for when treating patients (whereas Freud thought behavior was largely fueled by biology and childhood events). While listening to people reflect on their place in society, Adler heard lots of trepidation. This motivated him to help individuals grow comfortable with risks, because adventures and unforeseen joys await those who say yes.
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Chimpanzee
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The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.
Nadine Gordimer
With her daily life embroiled in the political turmoil of 20th-century South Africa, Nobel Prize-winning writer and anti-apartheid activist Nadine Gordimer knew a thing or two about truth. In a 1963 essay for “London Magazine,” titled “A Bolter and the Invincible Summer,” Gordimer asserted that though there are innumerous ugly realities in the world, there is also beauty in humankind’s devotion to finding truth and justice.
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Chimpanzee
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Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.
Vincent van Gogh
With his spectacular paintings hanging in such venerable institutions as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and New York’s Museum of Modern Art, it is hard to imagine that Vincent van Gogh ever experienced failure. But in reality, the Dutch post-impressionist artist went through overwhelming hardship in his life, both personally and professionally, and only found global fame and success after his death in 1890. If Van Gogh could see the silver lining of life’s dark storm clouds, then so can we.
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Chimpanzee
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If you can’t see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror.
Shane Koyczan
Canadian poet, author, and performer Shane Koyczan offered this clever perspective on self-acceptance in a line from his poem “To This Day.” The anti-bullying work, which went viral in 2013, urges us to make it a practice to doggedly seek out and appreciate our best qualities. Self-love is a radical act, and we can only benefit from being kind to ourselves.
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Chimpanzee
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A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.
Proverbs 17:22, KJV Bible
This analogy from the Bible’s Book of Proverbs points out the link between emotional and physical well-being: Joy is a powerful emotion, as beneficial for an ailing soul as medical treatments are for a sick or injured body. This passage from Proverbs 17:22 suggests that if we possess good cheer, our confidence, laughter, and trust are likely to radiate to those we encounter. Sharing kindness — be it through gifts, singing, rituals, or visiting loved ones — is a worthy and healthy practice this holiday season, and beyond.
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Chimpanzee
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Let us not go back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.
James Thurber
These words conclude the forward to 1961’s “Lanterns and Lances,” the last essay collection that author James Thurber published during his prolific career. Although the writer and cartoonist’s work inspired the annual Thurber Prize for American Humor, here he expresses a sincere desire for his readers: Don’t let past disappointments color how you see the world. When entering any situation, assuming the worst suspends our ability to access authentic emotions, and, as a result, few clear-eyed, open-hearted decisions are made. By contrast, Thurber asserted that his creative life was guided by “a basic and indestructible thread of hope.”
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Chimpanzee
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Perhaps the greatest test of love is the way we act in times of need.
Suleika Jaouad
Suleika Jaouad was 22 years old in 2011 when she learned she had cancer. From her hospital bed, she spent years advocating for young patients in a “New York Times” column and Emmy-winning web series. In response, she received thousands of letters and emails from people of all ages who found resonance in her story. After Jaouad completed her final chemo treatment, she embarked on a 15,000-mile road trip to meet some of the readers and viewers who reached out when she was sick — an experience she shared in her 2019 TED Talk and subsequent bestseller, “Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Interrupted,” the source of this quote. Everyone she encountered had suffered traumas and yearned to connect. Jaouad obliged, forging tender friendships from the compassion of strangers.
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Chimpanzee
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However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
Stanley Kubrick
The power of the human will is an incredible force, and even in the most daunting times, we are capable of making a positive difference. Legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick certainly believed this, as evidenced by this quote from a 1968 interview he gave in “Playboy” magazine. Kubrick (who made “2001,” “The Shining,” and other classics) argued that any meaning in life must be created by ourselves, and once we accept this responsibility, we can “forge a fresh sense of purpose and affirmation.” When we accept the challenges and limitations of life, he said, “our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment.”
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Chimpanzee
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Time is how you spend your love.
Nick Laird
This simple truism comes from the poem “The Last Saturday in Ulster,” written by Irish writer Nick Laird, the husband of celebrated English novelist Zadie Smith. Smith’s acclaimed third novel, 2005’s “On Beauty,” opens with this quote, which suggests that how we spend our time is one of the most powerful ways we can show our love. Its inclusion in the novel is a beautiful expression of love itself: Smith writes in the book’s acknowledgements, "It's Nick who knows that 'time is how you spend your love,' and that's why this book is dedicated to him, as is my life."
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BellaOnline Editor Renaissance Human
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BellaOnline Editor Renaissance Human
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Time is how you spend your love.
That certainly is a beautiful thought, Angie. I don't know Nick Laird's writing, but I'm a fan of Zadie Smith's work. White Teeth was a delight, especially since when it came out I was teaching in the area of London where it was set.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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When people talk about love they aren't always thinking of loving family and neighbor in a charitable way. I've not read either author but I'll make note of their names and when my to be read pile shrinks a but I'll pick up one of the titles.
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Chimpanzee
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Fear builds its phantoms which are more fearsome than reality itself.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first prime minister after the country became independent in 1947. A longtime activist for Indian independence, he was imprisoned eight times over the course of 24 years. Nehru often described British rule as perpetuating a climate of fear, and he sought to give citizens relief from the years of political turmoil. He spearheaded social reforms, brought widespread industrialization to India, and emphasized community and social responsibility. His words here remind us that fear can blind us to the reality in front of us, and we can achieve great things by not letting fear win.
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Chimpanzee
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The best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a prolific 18th-century scholar and writer, and the first American to be honored in Poets’ Corner at London’s Westminster Abbey. Much of his work was influenced by Romanticism, a literary movement that emphasized the natural world and human emotion. His narrative poem “The Birds of Killingworth,” in which this quote appears, is no exception. Longfellow’s gentle, simple writing shines through in this line, reminding us to allow circumstances outside our control to play out. Sometimes, the wisest thing to do is nothing at all.
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Chimpanzee
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I don't know, is it?
Only the ephemeral is of lasting value.
Eugene Ionesco
Perhaps the moments we cherish most in life, suggests avant-garde playwright Eugene Ionesco, are the ones that only last a short while. With this quote, Ionesco argues that scarcity increases value, and those temporal wonders we experience — a perfect snowflake melting on a fingertip, or the last ring of laughter at a dinner party that had to end — become the memories we delight in forever.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
Lin Yutang
The work of Chinese author and scholar Lin Yutang often acted as a cultural bridge in the early 20th century. He founded several Western-style satire magazines in Chinese, and in 1935 topped the “New York Times” bestseller list with “My Country and My People,” his English-language book on China. During the Sino-Japanese war in the 1930s, Lin also wrote social and political columns calling for international aid on behalf of the Chinese people. His words above match his trailblazing career, and remind us that not every road is laid out for us: We have to believe we can move forward together before taking the first step.
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Chimpanzee
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I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
Sarah Williams
An often overlooked English poet of the mid-19th century, Sarah Williams is best known for her poem “The Old Astronomer,” in which a dying astronomer offers his last words to his student. Grappling with mortality is a prominent theme in Williams’ writing, and in particular this poem, which she wrote while battling cancer not long before her own death. In this line from the poem, she urges us to value the bright spots in our lives, and to make peace — however we each can — with the impermanent nature of living.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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The only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough.
Ted Hughes
English poet Ted Hughes is best known for his stark, no-frills writing on the natural world, which explores the inherent wild nature of both animals and humans. Hughes wrote numerous poetry collections and children’s books, and is also remembered as the husband of the renowned writer Sylvia Plath. Hughes’ words here remind us that taking risks is an essential part of living. With every chance we take, we make ourselves vulnerable to failure and hurt. But at the end of the day, we’re more likely to regret a life lived too cautiously to be enjoyed fully.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.
Mignon McLaughlin
Famous for her clever aphorisms, journalist Mignon McLaughlin summarizes the nature of hope here in a simple but powerful way. When we are going through our darkest days, hope is the little ray of light that reminds us there are brighter times ahead. Hard times are not permanent, and holding on to hope that this, too, shall pass, is what gives us strength to get through them.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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You cannot save people, you can only love them.
Anaïs Nin
French-Cuban writer Anaïs Nin is known for her poignant, intimate personal diaries, which often read like novels, detailing the depth of her affection for various friends and lovers, and her sensitivity to the workings of the world around her. This quote is from an entry in September 1939: World War II had just begun, and Nin discovered that a close friend had enlisted in the French army. Even faced with the potential loss of a loved one, she relinquishes control, committing to love without conditions. Nin’s words remind us that often, the best thing we can do for the people close to us is simply to love them, without trying to manage or change them.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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One does not get better but different and older and that is always a pleasure.
Gertrude Stein
Now a legend of American literature, known for mentoring young sensations such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway as part of her Paris Salon, author Gertrude Stein was well into her thirties when she first published her work. Stein’s writing style became more experimental as she grew older, shunning the linear plot conventions of the time for more sprawling, reflective writing. Her words here remind us that though getting older is often disparaged, it offers us valuable experience and wisdom that inspire us to change as people — and that’s something to be grateful for.
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Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzee
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There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.
Vicki Baum
Author and screenwriter Vicki Baum’s life was bookended by her youth in Austria and her final decades as a U.S. citizen. In between, she experienced major artistic breakthroughs while living in Germany. In 1929, she published the international bestseller “People in a Hotel” — the basis for “Grand Hotel,” 1932’s Best Picture Oscar winner starring Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and the Barrymore brothers. Yet this period of great literary success began with modern dance, a discovery Baum made while researching her successful earlier novel, 1921’s “Ina Raffay’s Dances.” Baum spent more than a decade studying modern dance, a creative outlet that brought her immense delight and opened her mind to new avenues of storytelling. Encouraged to improvise at the end of her very first class, she would later remember, “I felt as though I hadn’t begun to live until that afternoon.”
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Chimpanzee
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The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer.
Fridtjof Nansen
Norwegian polymath and polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen was no stranger to “impossible” challenges. He led many expeditions to the Arctic, including the first to cross the entire frozen expanse of the Greenland interior, in 1888. Later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work in the wake of World War I, providing aid to thousands of refugees, prisoners of war, and victims of the famine in Russia. Nansen’s achievements prove that an “impossible” task is often simply something that’s never been done before. If we have the patience and tenacity to conquer even the most difficult goals, what was previously unimaginable suddenly comes into the realm of possibility.
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Chimpanzee
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Don't plan it all. Let life surprise you a little.
Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez is an award-winning Dominican American poet, novelist, and essayist who drew national attention with her popular 1991 novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” and 1994’s “In the Time of the Butterflies,” in which this quote appears. These simple words encourage us not to undervalue spontaneity: While we’re busy grasping for control, our most meaningful experiences are often the result of life’s unexpected twists and turns.
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Chimpanzee
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“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
–Benjamin Franklin (1706–90)
61 days until spring begins
Last edited by Angie; 01/17/22 09:54 AM.
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Chimpanzee
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You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou (1928-2014) is one of the most acclaimed writers of her time. First gaining the spotlight for her heartrending 1969 memoir “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” Angelou went on to write 30-plus bestselling books and was awarded over 50 honorary degrees plus many other honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. But Angelou’s creativity wasn’t specific to prose and poetry. Before becoming a celebrated writer and poet, she pursued an acting and singing career, gaining both Tony and Emmy award nominations. After publishing several successful books, she also delved into spoken word albums and screenwriting, becoming the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced, in 1972. Over and over, Angelou pulled from her experiences and emotions to create new work that still resonates with people the world over. Her accomplishments remind us that our creativity cannot leave us. It is inherently part of us, a muscle that gets stronger with exercise.
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If one has no sense of humor, one is in trouble.
Betty White
Betty White’s memoir "If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t)" was published when the beloved late comedienne was 89 years old. White, who would have turned 100 on January 17, preserved her positive and jolly attitude over the course of a more than 80-year career. To her, humor and gratitude went hand in hand: As she wrote in her memoir, “Old age isn’t for sissies… but if you are still functioning and not in pain, gratitude should be the name of the game." It’s a comment that brings to mind a favorite line of White’s alter ego, Rose Nylund, the character she played on the long-running sitcom "The Golden Girls": “My mother always used to say, ‘The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana.’”
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Chimpanzee
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Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Despite chairing the University of Cambridge philosophy department for eight years, Ludwig Wittgenstein was described by his biographer as a “reluctant professor.” He did not believe that philosophy should be approached like a job, and he often attempted to dissuade his students from pursuing academic careers. Indeed, Wittgenstein changed direction in his professional life numerous times. For a while, he lived in a wooden hut that he had built next to a Norwegian fjord; he later contemplated farm work in the Soviet Union. Deriving from a 1948 journal entry that Wittgenstein wrote at age 59, this bit of advice reminds us that the celebrated author was, unfailingly, young at heart. Wittgenstein was wary of anyone who tried to elevate themselves above others by sounding smart. Instead, he preferred the authenticity of those willing to laugh at themselves.
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Chimpanzee
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In a dark time, the eye begins to see.
Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke’s poem “In a Dark Time” opens with an assertion: Hardships clarify who we are and what matters to us most. Without challenges to illuminate needs from wants, we risk taking aspects of our lives for granted. The Pulitzer Prize winner, who lost his father at age 14, understood the necessary alliance between darkness and light. As the poem continues, images are invoked of birds and insects, forests and caves, and the wind and the moon. Roethke believed his lifelong pull toward nature came from his father, who had owned and operated a 25-acre greenhouse in Michigan. “In a Dark Time” was included in Roethke’s posthumous 1964 book “The Far Field,” which won him his second National Book Award for Poetry.
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Chimpanzee
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There is only one success... to be able to spend your life in your own way.
Christopher Morley
With more than 100 books to his credit, Christopher Morley’s oeuvre includes novels as well as essay and poetry collections. Perhaps his best-known work is 1939’s “Kitty Foyle,” a novel that sold more than a million copies and was adapted into a film starring Ginger Rogers. The source of this quote, however, is a satirical novel that the American writer debuted 17 years earlier. In “Where the Blue Begins,” all the characters are anthropomorphized dogs, starting with Gissing, the protagonist. When three puppies fall under his care, Gissing travels to the city and attempts to earn money in various ways, such as managing a department store. His adventures in the workforce remind him that accomplishments are defined by individuals, not society, and self-awareness can clarify our own unique sense of success.
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Chimpanzee
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My piano teacher once said to me, "Aim for the stars, land on the moon; aim for the moon, don't get off the ground."
Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
Bruce Lee
When Bruce Lee’s TV series “The Green Hornet” was canceled after a single season in 1967, the actor began teaching private martial arts lessons to famous students such as Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Pressed to name his unique fight style, 26-year-old Lee obliged with Jeet Kune Do, a Cantonese phrase meaning “The way of the intercepting fist.” This quote — uttered before Lee became a film icon with 1973’s “Enter the Dragon,” which was released just six days after his death — appears in Lee's posthumously published “Tao of Jeet Kune Do.” With it, Lee suggests that a meaningful goal equates to a steep climb. Even if you don’t achieve your highest objective, the steps taken will lead you somewhere satisfying.
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Chimpanzee
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The meaning of life is to find your gift. To find your gift is happiness.
Terry Pratchett
We are often told that happiness, or at least its pursuit, is the most important goal in life. But many of us struggle to figure out just how to achieve this elusive joy. In his 2010 novel “I Shall Wear Midnight,” from his 41-book “Discworld” fantasy series, author and literary icon Sir Terry Pratchett offers us a hint: If we spend life’s precious days intentionally unearthing our own greatest talents, passions, and abilities, happiness will follow where they lead.
More Quotes >
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It is not worthy of a human being to give up.
Alva Myrdal
With this optimistic sentiment, Swedish diplomat Alva Myrdal assures us that even in the face of extreme difficulty, resilience and tenacity are innate qualities of the human spirit. Myrdal was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 for her distinguished work with the nuclear disarmament movement, which sought to convince the United States and Soviet Union to abandon their nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Her work and words show that it is always possible for hope, virtue, and peace to triumph.
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The beginning of wisdom is to do away with fear.
Yohannes Gebregeorgis
As many of us know, fear is often the greatest roadblock to our happiness and inner peace. What’s more, as Ethiopian philanthropist Yohannes Gebregeorgis points out here, it is also the enemy of wisdom. A champion of literacy in his home country and beyond, Gebregeorgis recognizes that we cannot begin to learn and grow until we conquer the things that scare us, and move forward with courage.
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Chimpanzee
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The human mind always makes progress, but it is progress in spirals.
Madame de Staël
The path through life is not a straight line, and neither is the road to change. Political theorist Madame de Staël, who lived through the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, explains here that it is human nature to make progress in increments, as our beliefs are challenged, reconstructed, and transformed over time.
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Chimpanzee
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The world is like a mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.
Chinua Achebe
In the tradition of the Igbo people, an ethnic group in southern Nigeria, the mask, or masquerade, is a sacred ritual involving theater, dance, and costumes, representing spiritual and tribal elements of the culture. Nigerian author Chinua Achebe references this Igbo tradition in his 1988 book “Arrow of God,” emphasizing that if we want to experience all of the beautiful dynamics the world has to offer, we have to dance along with it.
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The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.
Rabindranath Tagore
In India during the early 20th century, few artists exercised more influence than writer and painter Rabindranath Tagore. A persuasive advocate for Indian independence, he did not live to see the 1947 milestone achieved. Yet following the example set by his father, Maharishi Debendranath, Tagore devoted his years to benefiting future generations. On the site of his father’s meditation center in Santiniketan, India, Tagore created an experimental school with five students and five teachers. That school blossomed into Vishva-Bharati University, now a century-old public institution with an enrollment in the thousands. As his quote implies, no legacy is more worthwhile than bettering the world for others.
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Chimpanzee
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Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.
Sarah Bernhardt
French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) had boundless zest for her craft. In 1905, when her traveling production of “La Tosca” stopped in Rio de Janeiro, the 61-year-old ensured a memorable finale by spontaneously leaping from a parapet. Although she sustained a lifelong knee injury, playwrights responded by creating parts she could perform while seated, enabling Bernhardt to continue performing on international stages for more than a dozen years. In all avenues of life, she contended that passion was a reciprocal quality. Effort inspires effort, and putting yourself out there leads to better collaboration and stronger relationships.
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Chimpanzee
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That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
Willa Cather
Lying in his grandmother’s garden under the warm autumn sun, Jim Burden, the narrator of Willa Cather’s 1918 novel “My Antonia,” observes the perfection of the ladybugs crawling next to him in the grass. In the peaceful joy of the moment, he concludes that happiness is found when we acknowledge the simple beauty of nature that exists all around us, and relax into our place within it.
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Chimpanzee
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We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.
W.B. Yeats
Irish poet, author, and dramatist W.B. Yeats observes here that poetry is best nurtured by our own internal conflict and contemplation. While we exercise our language and communication skills by debating with others, poetry is something deeply personal, expressing the unspoken, unresolved thoughts in our minds and feelings in our hearts.
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Chimpanzee
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Art is made in hindsight.
Virgil Abloh
Making history as the first Black American artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear line, late fashion designer Virgil Abloh (1980-2021) was revered for his cutting-edge creations, which uniquely combined streetwear and high fashion. He gave this quote in an interview with "Billboard," where he explained the concept behind the logo for his streetwear line, Off-White. Abloh recalled crossing out a rejected mock-up, and later, when he glanced at the scribble, he realized the design would make the perfect logo. He recognized that a work of art is not always intentional, but also depends on how it is experienced by others.
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Chimpanzee
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All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.
Leo Tolstoy
In his classic 1878 novel “Anna Karenina,” Leo Tolstoy reminds the reader that there are always ups and downs in life, and that expecting perfection will inevitably lead to disappointment. Things are not black and white, but messy shades of gray. Once we can accept the nuance and complexity of our existence, we can come to appreciate the good while taking the difficult in stride.
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Chimpanzee
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story:
Your reaction matters more than what happens to you
“Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. ‘Daughter, what do you see?’
‘Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,’ she hastily replied.
‘Look closer,’ he said, ‘and touch the potatoes.’ She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
‘Father, what does this mean?’ she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
‘Which are you,’ he asked his daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?’
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Nice is different than good.
Stephen Sondheim
After a terrifying brush with the big, bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood reflects on the experience through song in the musical “Into the Woods,” composed and written by late Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim. The show tells the interwoven stories of many classic fairy-tale characters, but with a darker, humanized twist. In this moment, Little Red realizes that even though the Wolf was nice to her, his genteel behavior was superficial. As many of us have experienced, her first brush with danger leaves her a little more wary and wise as she continues her journey through the woods.
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Chimpanzee
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Out of the wreck I rise.
Robert Browning
With this short but poignant line, 19th-century poet Robert Browning imagined the title character of his poem “Ixion” rising out of hell after gaining insight into his wrongdoings. The poem follows the Greek myth of the same name about the wicked king of the Lapiths, who is remembered for his deceitful dalliances with the gods and his eternal punishment in the underworld. The myth is frequently referenced in classical literature, but Browning decided that rather than have his subject stay bound in suffering forever, Ixion should learn from his mistakes, repent for his actions, and ultimately find redemption. No matter how many wrong turns we take, Browning implies, we can always find hope, grace, and renewal.
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Chimpanzee
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Patience is also a form of action.
Auguste Rodin
French artist Auguste Rodin understood well the inherent virtue of patience. He is known for his expressive sculptures — most famously “The Thinker,” completed in 1904. Rodin spent long hours carefully crafting his creations from bronze and marble. His masterpieces, as well as his words above, remind us that slowing down and taking time for contemplation are also crucial parts of moving forward
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Chimpanzee
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The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention.
Anonymous
This oft-repeated quote reminds us that while our thoughts and aims may be noble, it is our actions that speak loudest. Though the source of this quote remains anonymous (despite having been attributed to everyone from John Burroughs to Oscar Wilde), it has endured for decades thanks to the fundamental truth of its message. No matter how lofty our plans may be, they make little impact if we don’t eventually act on them.
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Chimpanzee
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We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves.
Patti Smith
Patti Smith’s life went through many different chapters: First a factory assembly-line worker and a spoken-word poet, she rose to a successful career as a singer-songwriter and wrote a series of autobiographical books later in life. Her first of these, “Just Kids,” written about her experience as a struggling artist in 1960s New York City, earned a National Book Award and a place on “The New York Times” bestseller list. Smith is considered a female pioneer of punk rock, lighting the way for other women in that male-dominated world. Her growth as a multidisciplinary artist reminds us that change is good for the human spirit, and evolving to discover our most authentic selves can bring bounties we can’t even imagine.
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Chimpanzee
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All that you’ve loved is all you own.
Tom Waits
Ranked 55th on "Rolling Stone's" "Greatest Songwriters of All Time" list, Tom Waits has penned tracks for the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, and Rod Stewart, plus his own 17 albums. Years before he became a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Waits threaded this line into “Take It With Me,” a ballad from his 1999 album “Mule Variations.” Accompanied by a soft piano melody, he reminds listeners that our interactions with material goods are fleeting — what defines us are the experiences we collect. To Waits, the fondness we form for people and places stays etched in our souls forever.
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Chimpanzee
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Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
Dorothy Thompson
One of the most famous and fearless American journalists of the 20th century, Dorothy Thompson was an early advocate for women’s suffrage, and later used her observations on the ground in 1930s Germany to warn of the rise of Nazism. Thompson’s courage in telling important stories serves as a beacon for the rest of us: If we can get past fear, our experience of life expands enormously.
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Chimpanzee
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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.
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Chimpanzee
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I don't watch this show (a bit late) but I know that laughter is the best medicine.
You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time — of anything.
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert is perhaps best known for his parodic Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report,” which focused on politics and current events. Yet Colbert, who now hosts "The Late Show" on CBS, is also beloved for bringing humanity to his comedy; he has addressed subjects including his mother’s passing in 2013, and the Paris terrorist attacks of 2015. Colbert has said that his performances have been the key to winning his longtime battle with anxiety. His approach to comedy serves as a good rule of thumb for the rest of us: Laughter really is the best medicine.
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Chimpanzee
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The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.
William McFee
William McFee was a 20th-century British writer known for his novels set at sea, an apt choice considering McFee himself was born on his father’s ship and later worked as a ship engineer. McFee served in the British Navy during World War I, publishing several novels and nonfiction works from his various postings. After 20 years at sea, he turned to a full-time career as a writer. Journalist Christopher Morley once praised the engineer’s touch he saw in McFee’s writing, calling him “patient, dogged, [and] purposeful.” McFee’s words here remind us to balance our passions with a level head: Marrying drive with patience and diligence remains the best way to move toward our goals.
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Chimpanzee
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True love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the classic 1943 novel “The Little Prince,” wrote often on themes of love, suffering, and connection. Saint-Exupéry himself was known for his long, complex marriage to writer and artist Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, who inspired the character of the Rose in “The Little Prince.” In the book, the Prince and the Rose eventually realize that while they do love each other, they show it in different ways. With this line, Saint-Exupéry reminds us that true love should always feel nourishing.
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Chimpanzee
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Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.
Jonathan Swift
This observation comes from celebrated satirist Jonathan Swift’s 1706 collection of essays and one-liners, “Thoughts on Various Subjects.” With this clever turn of phrase, Swift muses that vision is the ability to see not just what’s in front of us, but possibilities, dreams, and triumphs that haven’t happened yet — because that is the first step in being able to pursue them.
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Chimpanzee
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The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
Dolly Parton
In 1974, Dolly Parton — who has written more than 3,000 songs — was ecstatic when Elvis Presley wanted to record a cover of her latest hit, “I Will Always Love You.” But Presley’s manager told Parton the deal could only move forward if she signed away half the song’s publishing rights. “I cried all night,” she said about declining the offer, one of the smartest decisions of her career. Within the next 18 years, the song made two major film appearances: Parton sang a rendition in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982) and Whitney Houston made the ballad one of the biggest recordings of all time via “The Bodyguard” (1992). Before Parton, no artist had garnered two No. 1 records with the same song, let alone three as a writer — and she kept all her royalties. As Parton acknowledges in this quote, sadness is finite, and enduring hardship is necessary to appreciate life’s joys.
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Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.
Victor Hugo
According to popular folklore, every French town has a street named after 19th-century writer Victor Hugo. While the “Les Misérables” author was not beloved by the imperial Bonapartist regime — which forced him into exile for 19 years — he collected friends among many creatives, especially musicians. Besides being close with pianist Franz Liszt and conductor Hector Berlioz, Hugo also wrote the libretto for Louise Bertin’s “La Esmeralda,” an opera based on his 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” Today, Hugo’s texts have inspired more than 1,000 works of ballet, opera, and musical theater, and every two years, in the Channel Islands, fans celebrate him at the Victor Hugo International Music Festival. With this quote, he underscores how our feelings can be intensified and alleviated by the movement of melody. From a single piano to a symphony of 100, music can conjure a shared emotional catharsis from thin air.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
I was smart enough to go through any door that opened.
Joan Rivers
Legendary comedian Joan Rivers was just the second woman in U.S. history to helm her own late-night talk show. Before that opportunity arrived in 1986, she spent decades forging a path for future comics. In a 2012 interview with NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Rivers recalled her first break as a comedy writer: scripting dialogue for Topo Gigio, a mouse puppet slated to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” While Topo Gigio’s 1961 debut could have been a one-off occurrence, Rivers’ words connected with the audience, and the puppet enjoyed an 11-year run on the series. During this time, Rivers became a familiar face on both “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” By consistently recognizing and accepting challenges, she expanded her career into the realms of author and entrepreneur. Saying yes to opportunities is how you discover what you’re good at, and what you love.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.
Sylvia Plath
Although Sylvia Plath won a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Collected Poems,” she is perhaps best known for “The Bell Jar,” a 1963 novel based on events that shaped her life. Alfred A. Knopf, Plath’s first American publisher, passed on “The Bell Jar” twice. But through the author’s strong belief in her talent and her dedication, she acquired a measured response to such brushoffs. Plath understood that professional writing meant courting criticism — first from editors, then reviewers, and finally readers. Rather than fretting over responses she couldn’t control, Plath celebrated each time she was vulnerable enough to send her work out into the world.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland
Onstage and on-screen, Judy Garland was splendid at channeling characters, especially through song. Yet in private moments — which, for the lifelong star, were few and far between — she prided herself on her authenticity. The Oscar nominee and Grammy winner found that highlighting her favorite parts of her personality — from her sense of humor and strong convictions to her encyclopedic entertainment knowledge — drove others to embrace her even more. Long before her daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft became performers, Garland taught them that people who are true to themselves leave the strongest imprints on the world.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.
Abigail Adams
First Lady Abigail Adams and second U.S. President John Adams were the earliest occupants of the White House. From the start of their courtship until the end of their public service, the couple exchanged more than 1,100 letters. These historical documents verify that Abigail was her husband’s closest political adviser for decades. On November 27, 1775, while home with their children in Quincy, Massachusetts, she wrote to John in Philadelphia, where he and his fellow Second Continental Congress delegates were debating which principles should underpin the fledgling U.S. government. Given their formidable challenge, Abigail offered these words of advice, maintaining that haste rarely fosters meaningful solutions.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.
Joan Didion
In 2005, Joan Didion (1934-2021) published her memoir about the recent, sudden death of her husband, fellow writer John Gregory Dunne. About two months before the book's publication, Didion also lost the couple's only child, daughter Quintana Roo. When she adapted her book on grief “The Year of Magical Thinking” — a National Book Award winner — into a one-woman Broadway show starring Vanessa Redgrave, she broadened its scope to consider the two great losses of her life. With these lines, Didion reflects that life’s most meaningful moments aren’t likely to feel grand or cinematic — profound events are still surrounded by normal context. Didion compels us to embrace each mundane-seeming moment, because we never know when things are going to change.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,174
BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
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BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,174 |
"Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance." (Abigail Adams) That's a great quote, Angie. Thanks, Joy
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.
Alice Walker
Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer with more than 30 literary works under her belt, including her most famous novel, "The Color Purple." Her writing often explores the crossroads of race and gender — particularly centering the experiences of Black women. A former social worker and teacher, Walker also has a long history advocating for civil rights. “Activism is my rent for living on the planet,” she has said. Her commitment to equal rights and representation encourages us to stand up for our own beliefs and values, and to never let society or other people diminish our sense of self-worth.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52
Chimpanzee
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OP
Chimpanzee
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,135 Likes: 52 |
No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.
Virginia Woolf
One of the most famous writers of the early 20th century, Virginia Woolf is known for her fluid and experimental style across forms, from novels and essays to biographies and letters. Woolf also championed feminism and pacifism at a time when neither was popular. Though she won few accolades during her lifetime, her groundbreaking work has cemented her legacy as a literary and social pioneer. Her words here remind us that we can make more of an impact than we realize by simply being ourselves, without pretense or expectation.
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