Words of wisdom: "People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." -- Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

"May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. What a caterpillar calls the end of the world, the rest of the world calls a butterfly." -- Richard Bach

"It is not through effort alone that I have what I have. That would be impossible. It is the grace of God - I make no mistake." -- Maya Angelou

"Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others." -- David Seabury

"Sickness is felt, but health not at all" -- Thomas Fuller

"Your success and happiness lie in you...Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." -- Helen Keller

"Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than fear, to try rather than not to try.” -- Eleanor Roosevelt

"There will always be dreams grander or humbler than your own, but there will never be a dream exactly like your own...for you are unique and more wondrous than you know!" -- Linda Staten

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

"People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that distinguish me from a doormat." -- Rebecca West, 1913

About books: "But think of Adam and Eve like an imaginary number, like the square root of minus one: you can never see any concrete proof that it exists, but if you include it in your equations, you can calculate all manner of things that couldn't be imagined without it." -- Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass

"That's the worst of girls," said Edmund to Peter and the Dwarf. "They never can carry a map in their heads." "That's because our heads have something inside them," said Lucy. -- C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian

"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione. "Oh, am I?" said Ron peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging Hippogriff." "Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione "How dare you!" said Ron in mock outrage. "We've been working like house elves here!" -- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter (3)

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly. Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!" -- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter (4)

"One who can not cast a treasure away at need is in fetters." -- Aragorn to Pippin as he returned his elven brooch, LOTR

Frodo: "I wish none of this had ever happened."
Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but it is not for us to decide. All that is for you to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

"I'll never believe you are sleeping again, whether you snore or not. I shall kick you hard to make sure." -- Frodo Baggins

"It's just my line scar doesn't even look like a Morgul wound anymore, so I can't get excited about that." -- Fionn

From movies: Samwise's speech near Osgiliath, Two Towers
Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?...But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

ouch! :: be good