“Like yeast, it’s impressive how considerably an ounce of determination can make one’s efforts grow and expand.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Understand that great accomplishments require great effort. If a goal is achieved without effort, it is no accomplishment but a mere happening.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“The least effort is the feat most likely to be accomplished.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Prayer, faith, and vision, plus real effort too.
Blend them together for one potent brew.
The magical spell to your dreams coming true.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“If we were to behave half as well as we believe others ought to behave, we might prove ourselves as grand in character as excuses and justifications prevent us from being.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Sometimes the difference between success and failure is simply the degree to which you crave one over the other.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It is a greater triumph for the fearful soul who tries and fails than for the fearless who succeed.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Trying again is okay. Trying again and again and again is okay. It's sort of an infinite thing because the alternative is failure, and that's not okay.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Because," said a boy.
"Because why?" asked a young girl.
"Because I love you.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Life has moments that feel as if the sun has blackened to tar and the entire world turned to ice. It feels as if Hades and his vile demons have risen from the depths of Tartarus solely for the purpose of banding to personally torture you, and that their genuine intent of mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish is tearing you to shreds. Your heart weighs as heavily as leaden legs which you would drag yourself forward with if not for the quicksand that pulls you down inch by inch, paralyzing your will and threatening oblivion. And all the while fire and brimstone pour from the sky, pelting only you.
Truly, that is what it feels like. But that feeling is a trial that won't last forever. Never give up.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“It is a difficult thing―if not impossible―to forgive oneself for foolish errors, not for trampling a life or goring another with sharp horns, but for being the fool who opened the gate and let the bull out, blind to potential consequences.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Life is just repeated attempts at trying to do better.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Don't give up.
I know you've made a thousand attempts to reach your goal, but look at it this way: after repeatedly banging your head against the wall, you ought to be numb enough break through this time.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Four-letter words have always offended me. I cringe at hearing them. Can't, don't, and won't are the worst.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Though it pained me, I gave in. Why was it that I repeatedly succumbed to the first whisper of a promised maybe? How did the enticer, hope, always find my heart unguarded? There was no such thing as hope. Not for me. Why was it so hard to accept that?”
Source: Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher
“Only a writer would slap a bumper sticker on her car that read, 'Seriously, I'd rather be working'.”
“Faith to me is trusting in every evidence that something is―that it is possible, that it is significant, that it is real.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“I made a sorry face in response to such strong insistence, but I couldn’t believe him. Fantasies were exactly that―fantasies. Whimsy. Wishes. Mere castles in the sky without foundation or substance. Dreams didn’t come true. To believe so would be to believe falsely, to surrender to madness, to give in to an unreliable hope that would crush me once again as it always, always did!”
Source: Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher
“Past and Present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning Future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“It's been a harsh fight.
You've been pummeled and knocked down. Your body aches, flesh torn and bruised. Your eyes can hardly see through a stream of blood. But you are cognizant and alive; therefore, you rise from the fight.
This is life. It will test your will, your strength, and endurance. It will challenge your faith and convictions. It will scar your hopes and try your beliefs. In the end, life validates those who refuse to stay down.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Learn to look up now and then, just in case a piano is falling from overhead.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Imagine fantasy and pretend as neither fantastical nor pretended.....and then believe it.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Kindness solves more problems than diplomacy, wealth, intelligence, clout, force, law, and dominion combined.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“All human beings wield influence—a powerful sword granted at birth. Wield your sword with care.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Through sheer volume of passing days you will travel a great distance in your lifetime. Imagine where you might stand if your footsteps steered toward a single goal.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“My love for you reaches beyond the borders of continents,
so vast in scope that I would cross oceans to be with you.
Yes, but does that same love penetrate so deep
as to dare thee to sink to the oceans' depths to find me?"
-from "My Aquarius”
“All truth starts out as a wish; hence, reality is born from fairy tale."
from—"My Aquarius”
“Autumn is a cunning muse who steals by degrees my warmth and light. So distracted by her glorious painting of colors, I scarcely realize my losses until the last fiery leaf has fallen to the ground and the final pumpkin shrinks. Autumn departs with a cold kiss, leaving me to suffer the frigid grasp of winter in prolonged nightfall.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The first real day of spring is like the first time a boy holds your hand. A flood of skin-tingling warmth consumes you, and everything shines with a fresh, colorful glow, making you forget that anything as cold and harsh as winter ever existed.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Be sure to wear green
on March seventeen,
or else Irish leprechauns
pinch your bones clean!”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Corned beef and cabbage and leprechaun men.
Colorful rainbows hide gold at their end.
Shamrocks and clovers with three leaves plus one.
Dress up in green—add a top hat for fun.
Steal a quick kiss from the lasses in red.
A tin whistle tune off the top of my head.
Friends, raise a goblet and offer this toast—
'The luck of the Irish and health to our host!'”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Imagine if we were all magical leprechauns, and every wish ever made on a four-leaf clover obliged us to help others obtain their wishes. Now imagine if people simply lived like this were true.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Today You Soar
"Like the grand eagle, you spread your wings
And put forth the effort to do great things.
Looking skyward you dared to challenge the wind,
Harnessing power to help you ascend.
With an eye on the goal, fixed in flight,
You climbed to an impressive height.
Undaunted by gusts and unkind gails,
You never gave up and would not fail.
So now you’ve reached where few even try
As the eagle high in a glorious sky.
Not superior, but grand.
Not proud, but sure.
Not a cub, wolf, or bear but an eagle pure.
Today you soar.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Anyone who looks good with a bald head is seriously sexy.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Be someone’s security blanket when theirs is in the wash.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Giving advice is like seeing an elephant in someone’s path and suggesting they remove it. Heeding advice requires forcing the elephant to budge. Huge difference.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Beauty isn’t visible; I don’t know why people think it is. Perhaps because at times there are physical manifestations suggesting beauty exists in a person, but don’t be fooled. Beauty isn’t the packaging, it’s the treasure wrapped up inside.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Trust in the silent doers. It is far more difficult to put your dreams into action than into flowery words.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Eena!”
Recognizing Ian’s voice, Eena turned to find him approaching her from behind. He was entirely clad in body armor and gauntlets, cradling an open-faced helmet in one arm. Painted on his chest plate was a flaming, gold sword. From his side hung a leather sheath, a golden hilt peeking from the top.
“I’m glad you’re back. You are going to stay and watch us play, aren’t you?” He looked hopeful she’d say yes.
Eena smiled brightly. “I didn’t know you were talented enough to be on a dueling team. Nice sword,” she teased.
Ian blushed a degree. “Thanks. They call us the Savage Warriors!” He rasped their team name in a semi-ferocious voice. “Jerin’s team captain.”
She laughed at the showy designation. “And who’s your challenger today?”
“The Dragon Slayers - Derian’s team.”
Eena’s face fell. “Derian is playing?” She groaned internally, knowing she should’ve guessed as much. This was starting to look like another setup.”
Source: Eena, The Return of a Queen
“I wear my wrinkles like battle scars, having earned every last one slaying life’s dragons. They boast of my victories and some defeats while their beauty is a wealth of wisdom gained.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Why so eager to jump in and direct someone else's life when you can't stick to your own goals and resolutions?”
“Amore is love
confessed to you in haiku.
Do you love me too?”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Reality and fantasy are not two separate spheres but one whole. They are like a world's atmosphere―reality behaving as a low front, fantasy a high front. Each remains somewhat distinguishable and yet they swirl and join, affecting and manipulating the other. One cannot perceive where reality ends and fantasy begins, but life would grow stagnant and die without the influence of both.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I was breaking down, wanting to fade away and cry, yet I feared ever being invisible again. My head lowered to conceal my humiliation behind a curtain of hair where I trembled as if sobbing.
“Hey, Gwen, it’s okay. It’s okay. Calm down.”
I yearned to feel Daniel’s soft touch meet my temple and then trace along my ear, brushing back the hairs from my face. What I wanted was the comfort his caress always afforded me. He moved as if he would grant my wish, realizing at the last moment that neither of us possessed the power to touch the other.
“Your hair, Gwen.”
I refused to do what he wanted. I didn’t care for him to see the shame plainly visible in my features. But the next thing I knew, his blue eyes were staring up at me from the ground, a glare reflecting off his glasses. The guy had dropped his books to fall over for a clear view of my face. His desperation made me laugh.
“It’s going to be okay, Gwen, I promise."
—from "Phantom's Veil”
“If you never bother to say the words, why should anyone believe you ever felt them?”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Personal problems appear big because we press our nose to the glass to observe them. This only serves to magnify our troubles. The problems of others we tend to view at a reasonable distance from the window, making their woes and bothers appear ordinary. Too bad we don't naturally take a few steps back before considering our own plight.”
“You won’t solve your problems by drowning others in them.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“A thought can prompt. Words can stir. But it takes action to attain a dream.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I walk at night under a moonless sky. Only the terrain guides my steps, yet my footfall is as sure as if a dozen suns lit the way. I go to meet you under a leafless tree that never seems to grow or alter its shape. I am uncertain if it still lives or has learned to disguise its death. The same thought crosses my mind when I feel your cold fingers take my hand. It is not the tree I reflect upon.
‘Do you still love me?’ The words tumble clumsily out of the dark.
Hesitation is its own answer, but I reply ‘I’m here’ anyway as if my words were whispered comfort and not a weathered blade. They are taken wrong.
‘I love you too.’
Your arms wrap me up and clamp tightly around my waist. An old, familiar kiss hardens my lips. I wonder why it is I return to this place every year where only memories remain fond. Perhaps it is because I keep hoping this leafless tree will either change or die.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year