A running collection of short quotes and wisdom where I have found meaning and inspiration. Credit to the authors when I know who they are, and some others remain unknown.


“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” ― Robert A. Heinlein


"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worth while, so when you are lonely, remember this is true: Somebody, somewhere is thinking of you. —Unknown


Love is when you look into someone's eyes and suddenly you go all the way inside their soul, and you both know it. —Unknown


Love is the irresistible desire to be desired irresistibly. —Louis Ginsberg


"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart" --Marcus Aurelius


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. " --Nelson Mandela


"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." —Steve Jobs


"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine" -- Anthony J. D'Angelo


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." —George Orwell


"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." -- Edmund Burke


"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter”. — Ernest Hemingway