"Most people don't accept that they are an influence either improving or damaging others."

"Theories look great on paper until reality scribbles all over the page."

"It is a fact that one man can be deliriously happy in the exact situation that causes another man to wither from depression."

"To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons."

"I am grateful for the rare opportunities to look at my circumstances from a higher perspective, one detached from the dim outlook I normally insist on seeing. These periodic glimpses show me life's grandeur."

"Numerous times throughout history, a single person has made a tremendous impact on the world. I don't know why anyone would think that can't still happen."

"The sweetest melody that playson starry nights and wintry days,most soothing to my listening earsand calming to beleaguering fears,I call a symphony on air-the song of sweet, still silence rare."

"I'm starting to think this world is just a place for us to learn that we need each other more than we want to admit."

"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."

"I stumble and fall.I weep and struggle to rise.My mom feels it all."

"Closing your eyes won't make the awfulness go away. It may be that nothing will. But dwelling on it, dreading the evil, playing out the misery in your head - doesn't this feed the monster? You can't close your eyes to life, but you can choose where your gaze lingers."

"Life isn't a lazy cruise on some endless, calm, and temperate sea. Life is a raging ocean with swells and tidal waves that wreck and sink your boat. Life is a series of storms-overcast skies, fierce winds, and pelting rain. You were meant to be immersed in it all-first to float, then swim, and eventually to walk on water."

"In an unfathomable expanse of universe supporting galaxies of star systems with orbiting planets innumerable, I am nothing. And yet to the few bodies encircling my tiny little spot in the world, I am essential."

"Happiness has two hands: one with strength for lifting up heavy hearts and a gentle hand for tickling."

"The cup is both half full and half empty, it has never been one or the other. Stop obsessing over a trivial point and be thankful you have something to drink."

"You'll be hard-pressed to reach your goals if you don't map out where you're going. Take time to navigate your life."

"I cast my eyes out to the seaAnd gaze at all eternity.until forever turns to night.My eyes then lift to catch starlight."

"When we all part from this life and gather on the other side, the only thing each of us will have to share is his own story."

"A finger beckons.My choice is to turn away.It is a mistake."

"It is said that you can't write without a reader. The opposite holds true as well; you can't read without a writer. But if as a single, creative person you are one in the same, then, well.....problem solved! Great writing is born from that which we personally long to read."

"Children harbor a great many doubts and sorrows that could be eased by a loving hug from a parent."

"People love super heroes. It's true we're impressed by their bravery and fortitude, their supernatural gifts and physical brawn. But the fact is, villains possess these same qualities. So why our admiration for the hero and not the nemesis? Because of virtue. A super hero gives everything to defend what's good and right without seeking praise or reward. Think about it. All the great heroes give without taking, help without grumbling, sacrifice without asking recompense. A super hero's real strength, what we absolutely fall in love with, is his finer virtue."

"Life has me trapped in a cocoon of earth where I must grow and change until the day I sprout wings. And on that day I shall burst free, no longer marooned on a pebble of dust in a universe that only waits for me to find a means to fly."

"Nothing can squelch your fire except turning your back on the thing that fuels it."

"Life isn't always kind. It isn't gentle and loving or sympathetic to the pains and sorrows of humanity. I, however, as an individual in control of my own actions, can be kind and loving, gentle and sympathetic to those around me, and in the process improve what life is for everyone."

"I realized at that moment - observing his form move further away without once turning back - that I'd already begun to rebuild the imaginary wall between us. I was shielding my heart with stone cold feelings again, the only way I knew to protect it. I still planned to try my hand at prayer. If God would grant me this one request, if I could keep my only friend, I would give anything in return, even the treasured books trapped beneath my arm. I'd tasted enough of a dismal life to know that a real, true friend was of greater worth than the collection of every imagined fairytale in the world."

"I love when the sun plays hide-n-seek for a few days because its invisibility often goes unnoticed. The world seems content that its presence behind the clouds is enough. But as soon as that brilliant sun jumps into the open sky once again-shining in full splendor-our closed eyes automatically turn toward it, and we bask beneath a warm and tender touch, grateful all the more that our glorious sun exists."

"This feeling of guilt is your conscience calling your attention to the higher road, and your heart wishing you had taken it."

"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."

"You made me laugh at your jokes.You made me cry at your criticism.You made me shout at your lies.Then I noticed how in every case someone else was present, hearing you without laughter or tears or anger.I alone reacted.I see now; you never made me laugh or cry or rage.I chose to find humor.I chose to take offense.I chose to feel scorned.The truth is, you never had power over me."

"Barking at people earns their respect about as effectively as staring into the sun improves your vision."

"Life demands much. Give more."

"A monster's worst fear is of being found."

"The blue of daylightfades and chills as the sun sinksbeneath clouds of fire."

"Dress yourself in the silks of benevolence because kindness makes you beautiful."

"I've yet to find another soul who believes in me with the same fervency as my mother."

"There is a sky full of stars aplenty, and all you can babble about is a cold, little rock we call the moon. This is how it is with petty problems that exist too close to us."

"There is no other company in the world I've found more pleasurable than my own. For no one else has ever been as accepting of me or as thoroughly entertained by my quirkiness. It is a sweet thing to like yourself."

"If you invest nothing, the reward is worth little."

"It turns out the simplest choices have been far more important in the long run than I ever imagined."

"We live our lives supposing things are as they appear to be when that is almost never the case."

"You may not know my reasons, but you can assume I have them and be kind."

"The key to success-keep swimming. Even when they tap you on the shoulder to say the pool has been drained, just keep swimming."

"It is human nature to try hardest to accomplish the very thing we are told is impossible. Why? Because innately we know that nothing's impossible."

"There are days when writing is within my power and a story unfolds along a course I've already chosen. And then there are days when the words breathe on their own and take me by the hand, leading me along unfathomed paths. Either way, the end result is this author's fairytale."

"None of us have reached the peak of perfection, but it shouldn't stop anyone from trying to make the climb."

"Are you what others say and think you are? Or are you who you are regardless of what others say and think?"

"Amore is loveconfessed to you in haiku.Do you love me too?"

"I love writing poetry because it's pretty. I love writing pretty."

"Rain is a lullaby heard through a thick, isolating blanket of clouds. It is the tinkling harp of water droplets; a moist breath whistling through willow reeds; a pattering beat background to the mourner's melody. Rain is a soft song of compassion for the brokenhearted."