"It’s not a competition. If you must compete, do so only with the person you were yesterday." — Peggy Dean Peggy Dean's Guide to Nature Drawing and Watercolor
"Comparison is the biggest thief of joy." — Unknown
"The less energy we waste in our own minds pointing fingers, the more energy we have to move powerfully in the direction we want to go." — Hilary Oliver Adventure Journal, "Learning Accountability From Mountains"
"I spend a lot of my time moving at someone else’s pace, trying to accommodate, appease, and appeal. My personality is one that constantly needs to help, be supportive, be a quality team player, and to contribute as much as I can. It’s mostly satisfying, but if I get too absorbed in moving in others’ flow, I lose my own." — Ellysa Evans She Explores, "A Solo Camp for the Books"
"The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends." — Sarah Jane Smith Doctor Who, "School Reunion"
"We realize that every day is a gift. To become who we are and share what we do is a gift. To help one another is a gift." — Lonnie Kauk Alpinist Magazine, Issue 66, "Magic Line"
"Fiction, no matter the form, allows you to live a thousand meaningful experiences and relationships that you could never have in real life. Getting invested in a fictional world means you have a wonderful imagination, a big heart, and the capacity for endless creativity. No one can say anything bad about that." — Sam Maggs The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks
"The dog is gone. We miss him. When the doorbell rings, no one barks. When we come home late, there is no one waiting for us. We still find his white hairs here and there around the house and on our clothes. We pick them up. We should throw them away. But they are all we have left of him. We don’t throw them away. We have a wild hope—if only we collect enough of them, we will be able to put the dog back together again." — Lydia Davis Can't and Won't, "The Dog Hair"
"In her home, she struggles to find the right words to recognize her husband’s efforts. 'I don’t mean to say that I’m not grateful for you,' she tells him, 'but I really hate that I’m expected by society to be super-grateful for the fact that you’re not totally worthless around the house.'" — Lenny Letter
"I was sick of dating funny but emotionally-stunted guys. I wanted to find a Grown Man. It seemed only fair, I decided, that if that was what I wanted then I should make some attempt to become a Grown Woman. But when I looked at what it would mean to become a woman, one of those standard grown-up ladies, like the ones from commercials for gum or soda or shampoo, it all seemed to involve shrinking, rather than growing." — Jessi Klein You’ll Grow Out of It
"Separation is not always segregation." — Ibram Kendi How to Be an Antiracist
"People and decisions and time and circumstance will align themselves in the most astounding ways if you loosen your grip, if you allow things to form naturally, to flow into whatever reality they tend toward." — Carolyn Highland Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness
