Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. what a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. - Henry David Thoreau

I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content. - Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed. - Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Because of a great love, one is courageous. - Lao Tzu

It's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What's hard, she said, is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about. - Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

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. - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

You are the only one who has understood even a whisper of me, and I will tell you that I am the only person who has understood even a whisper of you. - Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated

She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself. - Anaïs Nin

Do nothing, and nothing happens. Life is about decisions. You either make them or they're made for you, but you can't avoid them. - Mhairi McFarlane, You Had Me At Hello

I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time. - Herbert Bayard Swope

I wonder if that's how darkness wins, by convincing us to trap it inside ourselves, instead of emptying it out.I don't want it to win. - Jasmine Warga, My Heart and Other Black Holes

After all this time?Always... - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. - Mark Twain

What do you think that fish is?' Sam asked Astrid.,' she said.'Yeah?' Sam made a face. 'Do you think it's okay to eat?'? Inedible? Joke, duh. Try to keep up, Sam, I made that really easy for you.'Sam smiled. 'You know, a real genius would have known I wouldn't get it. Ergo, you are not a real genius. Hah. That's right. I threw down an 'ergo.''She gave him a pitying look. 'That's very impressive, Sam. Especially from a boy who has twenty-two different uses for the word 'dude. - Michael Grant, Lies

We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it. - Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

No matter how much experience you have, there’s always something new you can learn and room for improvement. - Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. - Leonardo da Vinci

It’s just so strange.You used to love me,and now you’re a strangerwho happens to know allof my secrets. - Clementine von Radics