When I first started writing down quotes, I wondered what on
earth I’d ever do with them. If anything, I assumed I would just keep them for
myself and perhaps glance back over them from time to time. While I do often
flip through the pages of my books in hope of being comforted when I’m feeling
sad or frustrated, I have found many other uses for my quote collection.
In writing articles, I often use one of my quotes at the
very beginning in hopes of provoking readers to ponder on a specific topic
relating to the piece. I have used quotes in letters I’ve written to people
when I recalled one that expressed a thought better than anything I could come
up with. And I’ve even found myself reciting certain quotes I know by heart to
people when a good opportunity presents itself. My quotes herald from celebrities, athletes, actors, friends, and people I’ve never heard of. Some come from experienced writers and others are merely lines I underlined while reading a book. And because I am a poet at heart, I throw in the occasional poem I stumble upon on as well. The topics drift in and out of whatever I am pondering or struggling with at that moment—be it relationships, love, faith, writing, loss, work, persistence, forgiveness, But regardless of where the quote came from or who said it, they are all beautiful words that I cherished from the moment I first read them. In wanting to remember these words, I write them down. My quote books have become my own personal bibles of wisdom and inspiration and my hope is to someday pass them along to my children so that they can better come to understand who I am, what I believe in, and what why I write.
Here are just a few of my favorite quotes right now…and some
of the ones most recently added to my books:
“Making a hundred friends is not a miracle. The miracle is
to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are
against you.” (Unknown)
“Just because someone has more followers than you does not
mean they’re better than you. Hitler had millions. Jesus had 12.” (Unknown)
“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was
misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and
Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be
great is to be misunderstood.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” (Carol Bucher)
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit.
Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” (Muhammad Ali)
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” (Neale Donald
Walsch)
“I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It’s because
of them I did it myself.” (Albert Einstein)
“A writer is a priest of eternal imagination transmuting the
daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everlasting life.” (James
Joyce)
“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your
profession is what you were put on earth to do with such passion and such
intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.” (Vincent Van Gogh)
“We are asleep with compasses in our hands.” (W.S. Merwin)
“If you grit your teeth and show real determination, you’ll
always have a chance.” (Charles M. Schulz)
“I get up every morning determined to both change the world
and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes that makes planning my day
difficult.” (E.B. White)“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” (Pablo Picasso)
“A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.”
(Gloria Steinem)
“I almost wish we were butterflies and lived but three
summer days—three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty
common years could ever contain.” (John Keats)
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