look around you.

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 to 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 that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

—

G. K. Chesterton

All of us encounter, at least once in our life, some individual
who utters words that make us think forever. There are men whose
phrases are oracles; who can condense in one sentence the
secrets of life; who blurt out an aphorism that forms a
character, or illustrates an existence.

— Disraeli

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.

— C. S. Lewis

The wise old owl lived in an oak;
The more he saw the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he heard:
Why can’t we all be like that bird?

— Edward H. Richards

Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace
there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be
on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and
clearly; and listen to others; even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their stories.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons they are vexations to the
spirit. If you compare yourself to others you may become vain
and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons
than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it is a real
possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in
business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let
this not blind you to what virtue there is: many persons strive
for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be
cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and
disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the council of the years, gracefully surrendering
the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in
sudden misfortune; but do not distress yourself with these
imaginings; many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the
stars you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is
clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you perceive him to
be, and whatever your aspirations in the noisy confusion of
life, keep peace with your soul.

With all of it’s sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a
beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

That which happens in life is not as important as how you accept
it.

Nothing’s gonna change my world.

— John Lennon

Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind. It is not a
matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper
of the will; a quality of imagination; a vigor of emotions; it
is a freshness in the deep springs of life. Youth means a
temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of appetite
for adventure over a life of ease. This often exists in a man of
fifty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely
living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their
ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm
wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair
- these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the
growing spirit back to dust.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young
as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your
hope, as old as your despair.

— Samuel Ullman