I usually stray away from these articles, the ones that list “13 reasons why we love being single” or “10 ways to get through finals.” I’m a writer; not a lister. But as a writer, you truly learn and grow every day, discovering what it actually means to be a “writer.” Last week, a boy I was helping described my writing abilities as “powerful,” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. The point of writing is not power (although I loved to hear it), it’s not about how many people read your work or even like it. The point is to express and connect—to let your conscience be your guide. So instead of writing another article about some tribulation in my life, I’ve decided to share with you my most sacred belongings: 10 quotes I’ve collected through the years that encompass the magic, power, and love that literature grants us.

1. A lesson about time: “Today is always here,” said Sethe. “Tomorrow, never.” Toni Morrison - "Beloved"

2. A lesson about love: “You couldn’t make any one person your world. The trick was to take what each could give you and build a world from it.” Sarah Dessen - "Lock and Key"

3. A lesson about language: “But nothing in French’s armory of baroque sentences seemed sufficient for dealing with a girl who used language like an automatic weapon.” Zadie Smith - "On Beauty"

4. A lesson about leaving: “I am going to let the sounds of my footsteps speak for me. I am going to let the way I don’t look back speak for me.” John Green - "Will Grayson Will Grayson"

5. A lesson about perfection: “It’s the cracks and gaps and chinks in things that let the light shine in.” D. Anne Love - "Picture Perfect"

6. A lesson about life: “No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like storms beneath a river.” Mitch Albom - "The Five People You Meet In Heaven"

7. A lesson about choice: “Sometimes tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it’s a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.” John Green - "The Fault In Our Stars"

8. A lesson about evil: “Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy.” Zadie Smith - "On Beauty"

9. A lesson about temptation: “She offered herself up to the big, bad wolf and didn’t scream when he took his first bite.” Laurie Hale Anderson - "Winter Girls"

10: A lesson about peace: “Let your conscience be your guide.” Elizabeth Gilbert - "Eat Pray Love"

This was the shortest article I have ever written, yet took the longest amount of time. Imagine trying to narrow your iTunes library of 1,500 songs to your final top 10. Well, here is mine. I hope these quotes inspire and infiltrate their way into your life as they have done so, so beautifully in mine.