I have always loved to read and write. When I started high school, I started to keep track of and write down every thing that I read and heard that I wanted to always remember. If I ever needed reminding of a quote that made me feel powerful, I would just look it up in one of my two journals filled with quotes. I brought these journals with me to college and they continue to expand until one day, it will probably look like I just hoard quotes.

I have always felt that words are the most powerful weapons that we have, and I guess, in a way, I like to collect words. Here are some of the quotes that I love to live by:

1. "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." —Marilyn Monroe

Many of the quotes that I carry around in my journals are spoken by Marilyn Monroe. She is an influential person. The reason I choose to use the present tense when speaking of Marilyn Monroe is that her influence did not cease with her death. I am a 20-year-old woman that looks to these words to find myself in times of when I feel lost. Her words have helped me to understand myself.

2. "I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient of living." —Dr. Seuss

I always read Dr. Seuss books when I was growing up. I believe that his stories are a necessary ingredient of living. He provides children with the perfect amount of nonsense to get the message across. His books showed me that nonsense is necessary to grow. Without a little bit of imagination and crazy, life becomes a mundane plight that we trek through without so much as a smile or laugh.

3. "Life is full of screw-ups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existence." —Sarah Dessen

It may seem ridiculous to say that I've learned some great things from YA books, but I have. Sarah Dessen's novels taught me many things about myself. The book that this quote was from, "Along for the Ride," had lessons that taught me that I did not need to try and be perfect all day every day.

4. "All of our lives we must choose between what others define us to be and who we are meant to be." —Patti Callahan Henry

This showed me that we are always trying to find our own definitions of ourselves when those around us are always trying to define who we are. The only person that can define who you are is yourself and the book this quote came from, "The Perfect Love Song," showed me that. It also showed me that while you are trying to figure out who you really are, there will always be someone waiting for you to find your answer and will support what that answer is.

5. "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." —JK Rowling

This quote is particularly prevalent right now. As we face the possibility of a Trump presidency, I think of how important the character of a leader is. We should all be kind to those around us, but when we look at leaders meant to speak for us, we need people that would treat us regular people the same way they treat their peers with the same monetary values. Every person is important and deserves to be treated as such and when you see a person that looks down their nose at those they believe to be below them, then they truly do not have the character to lead.

6. "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." —Mae West

Carpe diem. Live life to the fullest. You only live once. We hear these things constantly in our lives but I think that Mae West put it best; if you live life the way you want to and have no regrets, then you will have no need for a second chance at life. Our eyes are always focused on the screen in front of us; we never just take a minute to stop and really think about how fragile our time is. You will never get that minute back you just spent watching that cat video someone posted on Facebook. You only get one shot at this life so follow your dreams and do the things you have always wanted to do and so long as you do those things you will only ever need this one life.

7. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." —Eleanor Roosevelt

For those days that I would feel horrible because someone laughed at me or said something mean to me, I would think back to "The Princess Diaries," when Joe spoke these famous words of Eleanor Roosevelt to Mia. We have the power to choose how we let someone affect us. No one can make you feel like you are less than you are and even I have to continuously remind myself of this. You are not a doormat or punching bag. If you have a "friend" that tells you how to live, insults you as "a joke," yells at you for not doing what they want you to do or treats you like their servant, please realize that you are the owner of your own life and the person to end that abuse is most likely going to be you. You no longer have to feel down every day, because you control what they can and cannot do to you.

8. "Don't worry about the bitches." —Jennifer Lawrence

Something that I have come to learn in my life is that there will always be that person that wants to tear you down and make you feel like less. I had to learn to live my life by my own standard and forget what anyone around me would think about what I was doing. It's your life and they have no right to demean you and control how you look at yourself. Be your perfect self and look in your mirror and tell yourself, "They hold no power over me. I'm a badass and I control my own life."

9. "Just like there's always time for pain, there's always time for healing." —Jennifer Brown

We often find ourselves so focused on the pain, whether physical or emotional, we are currently feeling that we hardly remember the times when the pain was not there or was not as bad. We struggle with the idea of healing when healing feels impossible. When the black hole sucks you in, the light is often difficult to find. But if you look hard enough, you will find it, even if it only seems like the smallest speck.