These are particularly meaningful to me and here's why.
1. "Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" -Rose Kennedy
Sometimes people complicate things too much. Birds are simple creatures. They can see the beauty in what remains after the storm, because they know all was not lost. We often times miss out on the sunshine because we focus so much on what was lost in the storm. To be happier, we need to appreciate the good things as they come.
2. "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." -Shakespeare
Having confidence in yourself does not mean you are right. It just means, there's a possibility that you are wrong but you will never realize it.
3. "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!"- Audrey Hepburn
This quote is really important because it shows the importance of trying. It's a quirky way of saying that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
4. "Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."-Plato
This quote is important because it emphasizes the importance of silence. Speaking with confidence about things you know nothing about, just make you look like the fool.
5. "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."-Aristotle
Aristotle's wisdom shines through in this quote. This is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish in life. It sometimes feels like all the bad things in life are suffocating. They blind us from the light. If we focus, or don't freak out, the light becomes easier to see.
6. "What we think, we become."- Buddha
Even if you don't say what you're thinking, what you're thinking plays a huge role in who you are. We all have those moments where we can't believe we had a thought like that, but the key thing is to realize the error in our thought and correct it before it becomes behavior.
7. "It's impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well have not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default."- J.K. Rowling
The only way that you can entirely fail at life it by not doing anything at all. J.K. Rowling understand this. Her words of wisdom accurately depict the importance of trying at life, even when you don't succeed.
8. "The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount."-B.F. Skinner
Why you give others praise or rewards is important to consider. Don't reinforce bad behavior.
9. "Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."-F. Scott Fitzgerald
One failure is not the end. There will be more challenges to come. As F. Scott Fitzgerald point out, be ready to try again when the moment comes.
10. "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow."-Helen Keller
Having positive thoughts and believing people to be good makes the world seem better. If you only focus on the negative things in life, negativity is all you will experience.
11. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." -Carl Jung
We're a lot more alike than we like to believe. Individuality is a real thing. We have our own likes, dislikes, and so on but we also have a lot in common. Other's actions can often be seen in our own actions because we usually have a common motivator: ourselves. What others do is sometimes irritating because it's a reflection of our own actions, but we cannot fix others. We can only fix ourselves.
12. "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."-Confucius
If you're hurt, do not seek to revenge. Do not try to hurt the person who hurt you. You cannot control their actions, but you can control your response to them.
13. "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."-Albert Pike
When we die, the success we have built for ourselves dies with us. When we die, the things we did for others before our deaths lives in them. We should not live ours lives, focused solely on ourselves. We should live our lives focused on helping everybody else.
14. "There are monsters and it's okay to be afraid of them, but it's not okay to let them win, and it's not okay to be one."-Jennifer Jareau on Criminal Minds
Being hurt by someone does not justify hurting someone else. J.J. emphasizes the importance of rising above the actions of others. If we all lash out then we all become hurt.
15. "There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness."- Han Suyin
A single hug changes so much more than a thousand beatings ever could. Human beings don't crave violence and depravity. We crave love and acceptance, but we fear trusting others. We fear showing that gentleness. Those who are gentle are the strongest. They give freely what we all crave but never admit to.
16. "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." -Shakespeare
All humans should be loved. Hatred is what darkens our souls. It's what turns us into the things we hate. Trust is a different story. Realize that not everyone is truthful and not everyone is going to be there. Realize this. Follow it when making decisions, but do not let it taint you. Do not hate and do not respond to pain with more pain.
17. "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."-Harper Lee
Harper Lee could not have phrased this in a more beautiful way. Most decisions in life are one's made by the masses, but that does not mean these decisions are right. Just because everyone else is doing something, does not mean you should follow. The nagging feeling in your gut will usually present itself when something feels wrong. Don't ignore it in favor of group-thought.
18. "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."-Ernest Hemingway
Trust is a game for two. You cannot find out if someone is reliable if you do not give them the chance to prove it. Fear is often times the thing that hold us back from trusting one another. Fear of being seen as weak is a strong force.
19. "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."-Robert Frost
If you're having a bad week, these inspirational words from Frost should help you carry on. The world continues to thrive. You can chose to move on and thrive with it or you can chose to wallow.
20. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."-Mahatma Gandhi
Some of these quotes have a common theme. The theme of this quote might seem repetitive but that doesn't make it any less important. You can't force the world to change but you can change yourself, and that one small change could make a big difference. If you chose to change your own actions, that might stop a negative reaction from someone else. It's a circular loop that will not be changed until portions of the circle break away.
