"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."

"Glittering tinsel,lights, glass balls, and candy canesdangle from pine trees."

"Silly little monster all would say.They'd scratch its head and turn awayuntil it snatched their tiny noses.They couldn't even smell the roses!Ever after, every childdreaded monsters, fierce or mild."

"We try so hard to instruct our children in all the right things-teaching good from bad, explaining choices and consequences-when in reality most lessons are learned through observation and experience. Perhaps we'd be better off training our youth to be highly observant."

"The best bubbly I ever tasted was laughter."

"Hope is the fuel within all human souls.Eliminate hope-nothing moves, nothing grows."

"Moms are life's number one cheerleaders without uniforms."

"I do listen. I just wait for the words to stop and your eyes to speak."

"It is in the coldest months that hugs linger snug, and they warm the soul the most."

"Unto you is bornin the city of Davida Savior for all."

"Dare to imagine. Dare to be. Books are the seeds. Dreams are the soil. The fruit of the harvest, a world reborn."

"Life is music to which you choreograph your own dance."

"For the real writers, every decision is either write or wrong."

"It's good to look at life from the bottom up so you can see that things have risen above what they once were."

"If only this great concern we have for our own sensitive feelings expanded to encompass the feelings of our fellow men."

"To most, being locked away in solitary with nothing but pen and paper would prove a hard punishment. What a strange creature who views this as heaven."

"Don't lick your wounds unless you care to taste the sting a second time."

"I am, for the most part, who I am because my good mother was who she was."

"Have you honestly pondered your individual worth? Consider every lower life form in the world-the animals, plants, fouls and fishes. Consider the land forms and numerous earthly wonders. Consider the countless worlds beyond this planet as well as their stars and galaxies. And then consider yourself. Of all God's creations, you were formed in His image, resembling the likeness of a God. That's something to think about."

"Laughing in the face of danger doesn't negate the fear, it simply enables you to smile at it."

"Trust in the silent doers. It is far more difficult to put your dreams into action than into flowery words."

"Learn to brush off criticism as easily as you brush aside hollow compliments."

"I hope you know I love you, not just because I tell you so at every opportunity, but because I show you so as often as the sun sets."

"Be good.See good.Choose good.It's a no-brainer."

"It's a waste of time worrying about something that worry won't fix. It's about as useful as trying to feed your pet rock."

"Raging fires grow from the tiniest spark; it is the same principle at work in life. As long as there's a spark, tend to your fire. Never give up."

"If you truly wish to change what is without, you must first change what festers within."

"It's easy to offer advice on trials that have caused you to stumble. It's harder to talk about those that have knocked you flat."

"Employing your imagination is the first step to the fulfillment of any dream."

"Evil might not prevail in the end, but it certainly doesn't fail to devastate in its time."

"A warm feeling fell over the boy. A mix of security and comfort, as if a blanket were wrapping its soft layers around his heart and nuzzling him snuggly. Gavin loved his mother, and he would be forever grateful to his father for protecting her. The whole mystery behind it made him itch with curiosity, however."

"Some birthdays make you happy.Some birthdays bring you down.Some birthdays make you jump for joyWhile others paint a frown.Regardless of your feelingsOr if you're far or near,The earth was blessed this special dayWhen Heaven placed you here."

"Kindness is a girl's best friend."

"Fear confronted me, and I stood paralyzed. He seemed a formidable, abiding presence. Then a voice whispered, "Fear not. Fear not, I thought with desperate longing. Oh, how I wanted to heed those words-but how? Hour after hour, day after day, fear refused to budge while I remained paralyzed. And so I let him make my choices; what else could I do? Alas, he never once chose well for me."

"What a mother wants is to hold her babies when they're small and to be held by them once they've grown tall. It's empty arms a mother dreads."

"You cannot appreciate what you have never experienced. Sadly, full appreciation tends to come only after the experience is past."

"It is a fight to let go of a past that refuses to withdraw its sticky tentacles from your present."

"You can add up your blessings or add up your troubles. Either way, you'll find you have an abundance."

"Learning to breathe fire isn't nearly as extraordinary as learning to breathe a word of kindness."

"It's easy to give advice on trials that have caused you to stumble. It's harder to talk about those that have knocked you flat."

"To persist with a goal, you must treasure the dream more than the costs of sacrifice to attain it."

"It's mind-boggling how many different worlds people live in on this one planet."

"Frozen yogurt is tastier than ice cream; nobody is too old for cartoons; bald men are sexy; chocolate is the best medicine; BIG books are better; cats secretly rule the planet; and everything should be available in the color pink, including monster trucks."

"To wish for the happiest days is to wish for a season of sorrow; for it is only after prolonged, wintry darkness that the summer sun appears to shine at its brightest."

"I read so I might live a thousand lives in a lifetime. I write to control the particulars in those lives."

"The funny thing about an impossibility is that it tends to be a magnet for those who would prove it otherwise."

"Let them hear your voice so rarely that a simply-uttered word creates a hush of expectancy in the room."

"Happiness is a frame of mind. It is a state of thinking. It is an attitude, a headset, a mentality. Happiness is a disposition and demeanor. It is a mood and sensibility. It is a philosophy, a notion, a tone, an outlook and perspective. Happiness is all of these things, none of which exist separate from me. They cannot be extracted or stolen because they constitute my very being. Therefore, happiness must be the natural essence of me."

"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."

"Humans are forever discontent-always thinking there are better alternatives to their present circumstances."