"You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act."
Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000

"A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe."
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990

"Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life."
Oscar Wilde , Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

"If you follow all the rules, you miss all the fun."
Katherine Hepburn

"Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy."
Janet Long

"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."
George Eliot, English novelist (1819 - 1880)

"While we are postponing, life speeds by."
Seneca, Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."
Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet (1809 - 1892)

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You don't blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the President. You realize that you control your own destiny."
Albert Ellis

"Just living is not enough, said the Butterfly. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
Hans Christian Anderson

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."
Mark Twain, Letter to Mrs Foote, Dec. 2, 1887
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

"Here's a message to the new borns, waiting to breathe: if you believe then you can achieve. Just look at me, against all odds 'though life is hard, we carry on, livin' in the projects, broke with no lights on. To all the seeds that follow me- protect your essence, born with less, but you still precious."
Tupac Shakur, Smile

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
Helen Keller (1880 - 1968), The Open Door (1957)

"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work."
Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine

"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

"Laughter is an instant vacation."
Milton Berle (1908 - 2002)

"I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within."
Lillian Smith

"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death."
Leonardo da Vinci

"Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance."
Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine, February 2003

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."
Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)