Writing
A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
Learning
There is, sadly, such thing as knowing too much.
Age
The only thing the aged do in resisting youth is a disservice to themselves.
Appearances
I am never one to under-dress, but overdressing is the surest sign of a lack of self-confidence.
Hope
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death.”
—Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Advice
Cum dubito desisto: “When in doubt, don’t.”
—Dame Maggie Smith (2018)
Success
There is a great difference between having failed and being a failure. Everyone fails; few let their failures define them.
I never lose. I either win or I learn.
—Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), from his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom
“You don’t make mistakes. Mistakes make you. Mistakes make you smarter, they make you stronger, and they make you more self-reliant.”
—Shirley MacLaine, from the motion picture “The Last Word” (2017)
Self
The tragedy is not in being who you are. The tragedy is in being the person others think you ought to be.
Greatness is achieved not by national prominence, but by personal satisfaction.
Never belittle yourself by worrying about the opinions of others. Yours is the only one that counts.
Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.*
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*Although this popular (and powerful) quote is often misattributed to Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), it finds its root in a three-part maxim by English historian Henry Thomas Buckle and first published in 1901. It was later popularized by the likes of James H. Halsey and Admiral Hyman G. Rickover.
A Bend in the Road 