“Just because a person successfully steers a voyage through hell doesn't mean he ever wants to sail that route again.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Some live for their own joy and pleasure.
Some live to ease the burdens of others.
Then there are those who seem to exist for pain's sake only, that in the end the wrathful fire sent to consume their oppressors will be justified."
~ In loving memory of Miss Annabelle Fancher”
Source: Secrets of a Noble Keykeeper
“One way or another, I think we are all destined to learn the same lessons in life. Universal truths are universal truths. They cannot be changed.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“There are times you find yourself standing by the wayside, watching as someone struggles to dig a well with a spoon, and you wish with all your heart you had arms and a shovel.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The greatest gift you can give is your time. Not money, not items, not food, not pretty cards with handwritten sentiment, but time. People need your presence. The way you can help a soul the most is to simply be there.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It's impossible to be involved in all situations, but there's no excuse not to be involved in something, somewhere, somehow, with someone. Make an ounce of difference.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“To love is to accept a soul entirely, not wishing that the person was otherwise, nor hoping for change, nor clinging to some ideal past. To love is to cherish the individual standing before you presently―charms, quirks, and all. To love is to give someone a piece of your heart that you will never, ever reclaim.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Beauty exists, even in unlikely places. The key isn't to open your eyes but to open your heart.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Truly there are different kinds of pain. But the most agonizing is the pain of regret, for which there is no lasting relief and no remedy.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Time is a power of its own, and it may be the only power by which some miracles come to pass.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Patience isn’t simply waiting, it is caring enough about the situation and those involved to remain calm and courteous throughout the wait.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Extraordinary power exists in a trial of patience. Few endure their trials well enough to discover this.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Patience isn't tested when it is self-imposed and the duration is self-regulated. Patience is hardly tested when the outcome means little to you. However, when circumstances beyond your control force you to wait with baited breath knowing the outcome will affect your life substantially, that is the true test of patience. It is a cage inside a burning building where every exit is blocked by angels calmly advising you to wait a moment longer. Your choice is to either trust their words or madly claw through them.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Life is a valuable and unique opportunity
to discover who you are.
But it seems as soon as you near
answering that age-old question,
something unexpected always happens
to alter your course.
And who it is you thought you were
suddenly changes.
Then comes the frustrating realization
that no matter how long life endures,
no matter how many experiences
are muddled through in this existence,
you may never really be able
to answer the question....
Who am I?
Because the answer, like the seasons,
constantly, subtly, inevitably changes.
And who it is you are today
is not the same person you will be tomorrow.”
Source: Eena, The Dawn and Rescue
“How frustrating to think you can be lost to yourself. And yet how often it is that a stranger stares back at you from the mirror. Maybe in truth we never see ourselves as clearly as the thousands of eyes that daily take us in.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Be grateful for the woman who worries about your welfare and checks on your whereabouts because if she stops obsessing, you can bet she no longer cares.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“The ears and the heart are connected, it’s true,
for when ears open wide, the heart opens up too.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“My shoulders, broad and sculpted thick, were designed for two useful purposes. The one, to carry heavy loads like cedar logs and beams of steel and now and then the careful transfer of an injured friend to a bed of safety. The other purpose I consider superior, and that is to be, in all circumstances and forever, your headrest and cry pillow whereupon you may leave your heaviest burdens.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Love is donating a chunk of your life to patch up holes in the life of another.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“I'm not asking you to walk in my shoes; I'd never wish my afflictions on anyone. But could you walk beside me on secure ground and reach to hold my hand?”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“You cannot fully understand a person's need until you have endured the same need. As hard as you may try to predict and comprehend their situation and suffering, I guarantee you'll fall short until you've been there.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Mothers care in volumes of tears and earnestness of prayers and a depth of emotion others cannot fathom.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“When my problems seem overwhelming and impossible to solve, I hold fast to these facts: God is real, He is right, and He cares.”
“I will admit you are the finest if not the loveliest rose in the garden. But you see, my dear, I was looking for a sunflower.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“The description of Huck’s father grabbed my full attention, and I glanced up at the book in my teacher’s hand as if to double check. My eyes bulged reflexively. Huck’s father was an abusive drunk just like mine. The boy was hopeful that a corpse found near the river was actually his dad, but it turned out not to be. It was spooky how high my hopes rose for the boy, and then sank so utterly low when the body was discovered to be a female in disguise. I should’ve mourned for the woman, but it was the boy I felt bad for.”
Source: Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher
“I felt sad.
I felt cold.
I felt hurt.
I felt forsaken and lonely.
I felt doubtful and hesitant.
I felt scared and deeply worried.
I felt different, unknown, and unwelcome.
I felt empty and woefully neglected.
I felt weak and intimidated.
I felt withdrawn and shy.
I felt utterly hopeless.
Then you held my hand,
and I felt better.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“A word of consolation
may sweetly touch the ear.
Now and then a quiet song
will clear the mind of fear.
A simple act of kindness
can ease a load of care.
Stories told in memory
diminish all despair.
A whispered prayer of comfort
draws angel arms around.
Counting blessings, great and small,
helps gratitude abound.
These acts, all sympathetic,
will kindly play their part.
But seldom do they dry the tears
shed mutely in the heart.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“It's frustrating when our best efforts to help people fail. But if we could see life through their weary eyes and experience their trials with the same frayed emotions, we might understand why.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Sit with me, and I'll not be alone.
Hold my hand, and I'll not feel alone.
Cry with me, and I'll no longer suffer alone.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I stumble and fall.
I weep and struggle to rise.
My mom feels it all.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“For things I am not thankful for―experiences I would never volunteer to relive―I recognize how they have changed me. My depth of compassion and humility, the sincerity of my empathy and understanding, and the duration of my patience have all been refined by bitter suffering. I thank God for the lessons learned. I am a better person for it, but I still abhor those awful trials.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Sometimes all you can do is hug a friend tightly and wish that their pain could be transferred by touch to your own emotional hard drive.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Why must you know the details of my troubles to have compassion? Is it not enough to show compassion simply because you know that everyone has troubles?”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“If only this great concern we have for our own sensitive feelings expanded to encompass the feelings of our fellow men.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“I don’t want to be lonely, but I don’t want to be miserable either.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“A box sits empty,
wanting to hold and protect.
Hollow tears it cries.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Bad habits are demons that often push us into isolation because they know that in our loneliness they stand little chance of being overcome.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“What does freedom mean? It means warriors are fighting for you, defenses are protecting you, and soldiers are sacrificing to preserve your ability to speak, to act, to live, and to express yourself in a world where a great many aggressors would oppress those freedoms if not for the heroic resistance preventing them.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“The most powerful and courageous heroes I know are those who bite their tongues when justification, validation, temptation, or vengeance would have them strike with truthful, hurtful words.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“The hero isn’t the one who is right, but the one who steps forward to take the blame—deserved or not—and apologize to save a relationship.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Heroes don’t have the need to be known as heroes, they just do what heroes do because it is right and it must be done.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“A hero is a person who, without a second thought, simply does the right thing because his conscience cannot live with any other choice.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Heroes make us smile because they not only rescue us outwardly, but inwardly too.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Little girls grow up thinking that knights in shining armor actually exist. But they don't. And if those valiant heroes ever did bless this world with their chivalrous deeds, I imagine, just like Christ's apostles, they were destroyed by envy on the battlefront.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“The trait I regard most highly in a man is kindness. Thoughtful, consistent kindness. All other qualities—whether charming, witty, handsome, enterprising, powerful, seductive, or ingenious—wither in comparison to a truly kind man.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Beauty that pleases the eye is a frail, fleeting illusion. But that beauty capable of pleasing the heart can endure endlessly.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“I don’t think of you as a typical beauty. I never once did.
To me your hair mimics asphalt more than the lustrous feathers of ravens. Comparing your eyes to heavenly lights seems a stretch when they are the common color of dirt. I can’t imagine you as a tall, pole-slender image; your God-given shape is right bulky.
But I never cared about such pointless things anyway.
What good have trivial attributes ever done the world?
When I look at you, I see you—or in other words, all of you that really matters. I see a kind heart and compassionate arms. I see a patient, gentle spirit abounding with love towards all of God’s creatures. I see the perfect blend of humility and strength of character. I see a wise intellect as well as an endearing sense of humor. I see all the qualities that make you the person I love, regardless of the bodily package you’re bound in.
So forgive me if I don’t think you’re beautiful, because I find you to be far superior to that worthless and pointless nonsense the world calls beauty.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“The Devil's Rose
You would never take a rose from a beast.
If his callous hand were to hold out a scarlet flower, his grip unaffected by pricking thorns, you would shrink from the gift and refuse it. I know that is what you would do.
But the cunning beast will have his beauty.
He hunts not in hopeless pursuit, for fear would have you sprint all the day long. Thus, he turns toward the shadows and clutches the rosebud, crunching and twisting until every delicate petal is detached. One falls not far from your feet, and you notice the red spot in the snow.
The color sparkles in the sunlight, catching your curious eye. No beast stands in sight; there is nothing to fear, so you dare retrieve the lone petal. The touch of temptation is velvet against your thumb. It carries a scent you bring to your nose, and both eyes close to float on a cloud of perfume.
As your lashes lift, another scarlet drop stains the snow at a near distance. A glance around perceives no danger, and so your footprints scar the snowflakes to retrieve another rosy leaflet as soft and sweet as the first. Your eyes shine with flecks of golden greed at the discovery of more discarded petals, and you blame the wind for scattering them mere footprints apart. All you want is a few, so you step and snatch, step and snatch, step and snatch.
Soon, there is enough velvet to rub against your cheek like a silken kerchief. Your collection of one-plus-one-more reeks of floral essence.
Distracted, you jump at the sight of the beast in your path. He stands before his lair, grinning without love. His callous hands grip at thorns on a single naked stem, and you look down at your own hands that now cup his rose. But how can it be? You would never take a rose from a beast. You would shrink from the gift and refuse it. He knows that is what you would do.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The woman laughed again. She was the loudest person in the cave. Eena wondered if perhaps she was talking to a female Ghengat. Curiosity got the best of her and she turned to look, surprised to find neither a Ghengat nor a Harrowbethian woman, but a Mishmorat. A striking, cheetah-spotted Mishmorat with straight lengths of charcoal hair and the most alluring dark eyes in existence. This bronzed female was the same height as Eena but observably more muscular. She resembled a mix of cheetah, Arabian princess, and gladiator in tight-fitting pants. Eena paused, dropping the stone in her hands.
“Kira?” she breathed.
“Hmmm,” the woman grumbled. Her painted eyes scrunched with displeasure. The look was still stunning. “I see my reputation precedes me.”
Eena gawked as if a fabled ghost had been resurrected. “You’re alive?”
Source: Eena, The Dawn and Rescue
“Don’t whisper your wishes to faraway stars,
shout them boldly at the sun.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year