“You were formed inside a borrowed womb—a nourishing safe haven for months—then delivered through painful effort and sacrifice by a woman willing to give you the precious gift of life. That truth alone deserves your gratitude and respect.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“You were born and with you endless possibilities, very few ever to be realized. It's okay. Life was never about what you could do, but what you would do.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Without you there would be no me.
I am everything reflected in your eyes.
I am everything approved by your smile.
I am everything born of your guidance.
I am me only because of you.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I always envisioned myself as traveling the ocean of life in a rowboat where my mother was one oar and my father, the other. Having two good, solid oars made rowing much easier.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Validate my existence with your words and I will speak to you all the day long.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“I am but the reflection in your eyes, the effect of your expressions, and the sum of your praise and criticism.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“You can't make me be nice.
You can't make me be good.
You can't make me believe.
But your example, your kindness, your patience and love will affect me perhaps enough that eventually I may choose to do those things.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“You can believe what you've been told. You can imagine in vivid detail the things explained to you. You may even feel emotions assumed to accompany the related experience. But you absolutely cannot know something with any real degree of understanding until you've personally walked the road yourself.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The world will not get better until you get better, until I get better. Things in this world improve only when individuals improve.”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“If looking back on life, you have no regrets, no disappointments, no mistakes, no dark days—things from which you have learned, grown, improved, and strengthened—then what good has life done you?”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“The Lord really does magnify ordinary people to get His work done. God does this despite our pitiful sins and vast imperfections because if He insisted on calling only perfect people to the work, there would be no one on Earth qualified. It is not our perfection but our humble willingness that He counts on. Even with weaknesses and sins, God extends callings to both men and women, asking them to do what needs doing so that great things are accomplished with human effort.
Yes, God could perform every task on his own and do so flawlessly, but it is our personal improvement for which He is concerned. Significant growth occurs in the midst of fulfilling God’s callings, and our finer growth is His ultimate work and glory.”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“Integrity is more than truth and honesty; integrity is an unshackled mind, a happy heart, and a light spirit. Integrity is inner peace with a clear, clean conscience. Integrity is self-respect, honor, and credibility. Integrity is healthy and unfettering, and it is worth defending.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Too often we let others stamp a price tag on us, and we accept their appraisal of our worth, forgetting we are in fact priceless.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“It is a pleasurable thing to earn the admiration of others, but it is a far better feeling to honestly admire thyself.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“I finally figured out the big, elusive secret to weight loss. Don't eat! Who knew?”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“You are here to make a difference, to either improve the world or worsen it. And whether or not you consciously choose to, you will accomplish one or the other.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Every brush stroke on the canvas, every dab of color introduced, the fine textures impressed in the paint—this accumulation of many small acts combines to shape a final work of art. And so it is with life; each step, each deed, each brief choice builds gradually, day by day, to shape both character and destiny.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“When a monster grows quiet and crumbles to the ground weeping, you feel sorry for him. You may approach with caution and hope, whispering words of peace. But in the morning he will rise to his full height, roaring and stomping and baring his sharp teeth because he is, after all, a monster.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“One of the most troubling facts I have had to accept is that people are not all angel or all devil. They are both good and awful to varying degrees and in varying circumstances. On any given day, dependent upon the situation, you will be confronted by either the devil of a person or the angel of the same person or a curious mix of both. This means you can, and most likely will, love and hate the same individual alternately throughout your life. This truth I find painfully heartrending.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Many of us draw lines which we intend never to cross.
But life tests our resolve, mercilessly at times, and a foot budges, nudged past that thinly-drawn line. So we draw another, resolving never to cross this one. Days grow dark and fog creeps in to blind our view, clouding the reason for the line’s existence from our minds. We draw another mark, ashamed that the last was crossed with less coaxing than we imagined it would require. Shadows and doubts give further need to draw a new line, and then another and another.
Lines, I think, are too slim and obscure to be dependable deterrents for behavior. Too often, too easily, people stumble into places they later regret entering. What, then, keeps some individuals from crossing those narrow lines?
It is the power of values.
For if a person possessing values were to step one foot outside their line, they would be forced to release hands with those inflexible values and consciously abandon them. But their values are persuasive, keeping a tight grip, warding off the luring temptations beckoning one to test the line. Thus values maintained keep a person safely away from areas they dare not travel, steering a life between the lines, enhancing willpower and shaping mighty strength of character.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Life is not about having perfect days. Life is not about handling days perfectly. Life is about perfecting one’s character through the having and handling of every given day.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“It’s easy to be kind to friends who return your smiles and happily lend a helping hand. But the true test of good character is finding the will and desire to be kind and charitable to those who give us absolutely no motivation to do so.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“It is neither trials nor relationships nor successes nor failures that define a man, but the choices he makes while handling them.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“A liar deceives himself more than anyone, for he believes he can remain a person of good character when he cannot.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“One of the most critical decisions made in life is choosing with whom to spend your time. For it is those close relationships that gradually mold our character until we become a reflection of the company we keep.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Some people are like gravity; they draw you into a room with a hop in your step and a smile on your face. Others are like the stench of sulfur; they make you scowl and want to swivel on the balls of your feet towards a quick exit. Have you stopped to think if you are gravity or sulfur?”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“You need tell me nothing; I already know your heart. Through your simplest choices you've given yourself away.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Life is a character-building opportunity that we all volunteered for.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Ian was a good man—honest, trustworthy, loyal, and of honorable character. His desire to keep his promise to Angelle and to be a respectable servant of Harrowbeth would always take president over any personal feelings, no matter how intense or gratifying they might be. He would never betray Harrowbeth. He would never cheat Derian or Angelle. He would never deceive his queen, even if in so doing he would find a love and happiness they both longed to share. His commitment to what he saw as right meant more.”
Source: Eena, The Curse of Wanyaka Cave
“For whatever reason, there are people we like and people we don't like. It's hard to say why, and often a difficult opinion to change. Luckily, there's no steadfast rule stating that we must like everyone. But to keep from disliking ourselves, we should develop the good character to treat everyone kindly whether or not we deem them deserving.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Life is a test. It was designed to be so. It is where we taste the bitter and the sweet; where we feel pain and pleasure; where we learn right from wrong; where we pass through both darkness and light. It is a time to make choices. And through this process we form our characters—some grand and glorious, some barely decent, and others just plain monstrous.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“What's in a name? The accumulation of reputations from all who've owned it before you.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“You would think this was common sense, but apparently not: quit doing things you do not want others to do. You will never bring about desired change when your example screams contrarily.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who follow the popular majority, and those who possess good sense. In other words, you can either let the crowd steer you right over a cliff, or you can stop to peer beyond the brink and see how a fall will likely end in tragedy.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It is easy to find someone willing to make a commitment. The challenge is to find someone dedicated to keeping it.”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“Words that should cross your lips with ease: thank you, love you, sorry, please.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Though I may accumulate a great deal of riches in this world, it is only my wealth of knowledge, talents, and emotional bonds that I keep when I leave.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“When it comes to the crusty behavior of some people, give them the benefit of the doubt. They may be drowning right before your eyes, but you can't see it. And you would never ask someone to drown with a smile on his face.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Never assume that because you cannot see the answer, there is no answer. There is. Give it prayer. Give it faith. Give it patience. Give it time. You will have your answer eventually.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Patience is not only a virtue, it is power, it is influence, it is the richest soil for personal growth.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Patience is real self-mastery.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Alas, impatience is but another form of unhappiness. It is true, it is true. I have never met a happy impatient person.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Happiness is never in a rush. If you move too fast, you leave it behind.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Impatience is racing at misery full speed.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Patience is seeing each step as a journey rather than seeing a journey as a thousand steps.”
“If kindness is beauty, patience is disarming elegance.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“I am more and more convinced that some people are put in our lives solely to try our patience and tamper with our tolerance levels.”
“My Floating Sea"
"Pastel colors reflect in my opening eyes and draw my gaze to a horizon where the waters both begin and end. This early in the day I can easily stare without blinking. The pale sea appears calm, but it is stormy just as often. I awe at the grandeur, how it expands beyond my sight to immeasurable depths. In every direction that I twist my neck, a beauteous blue is there to console me.
Flowing, floating ribbons of mist form on these pale waters. In harmony they pirouette, creating a stretch of attractive, soft swirls. Swoosh! The wind, its strength in eddies and twisters, smears the art of dancing clouds, and the white disperses like startled fairies fleeing into the forest. Suddenly all is brilliant blue.
The waters calm and clear. It warms me. Pleases me. Forces my eyes to close at such vast radiance. My day is spent surrounded by this ethereal sea, but soon enough the light in its belly subsides. Rich colors draw my gaze to the opposite horizon where the waters both begin and end. I watch the colors bleed and deepen. They fade into black.
Yawning, I cast my eyes at tiny gleams of life that drift within the darkened waters. I extend my reach as if I could will my arm to stretch the expanse between me and eons. How I would love to brush a finger over a ray of living light, but I know I cannot.
Distance deceives me.
These little breathing lights floating in blackness would truly reduce me to the tiniest size, like a mountain stands majestic over a single wild flower. I am overwhelmed by it all and stare up, in love with the floating sea above my head.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It's strange how in childhood it feels like tomorrow won't come until the end of forever, but in adulthood it feels like the end of forever could come tomorrow.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Is anything truly impossible? Or is it that the path to our goals appears too unclear to follow? It seems to me that if you seek hard enough, pray hard enough, you usually stumble across a scattering of breadcrumbs that marks the trail leading to the goal you once considered beyond your reach.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year