"I am inspired by those who are not afraid to test their limits and fail. I also draw inspiration from people who have the ability to suffer with a smile and see the good in everyone and positive potential in every situation—no matter how grim it may seem at first." — Emily Harrington
"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." — John F. Kennedy
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain
"It is the job never started that takes the longest to finish." — Samwise Gamgee The Lord of the Rings
"Complaining is contagious, so I’m trying not to drive down that road anymore. I want to be the one at the wheel when people buckle up, grab the “oh shit” handle, and get ready for a weird and wild ride. Because life sucks sometimes, but not most of the time, and hitting the gas and going anyway is a whole lot better than complaining about it." — Steph Wright Oru Kayak, "Go Anyway"
"Internal reflection was more important than external appearance; personal growth took precedence over material acquisition." — Dick Dorworth Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968, "Viva los Funhogs"
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Just be your natural, horrid self." — 4th Doctor Doctor Who, "The Masque of Mandragora"
"Anger, resentment, envy, and self-pity are wasteful reactions. They greatly drain one’s time. They sap energy better devoted to productive endeavors." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"There are things you can’t control, so you’d better know how you’re going to react to them." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"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"
"You are not an idiot. It’s okay if you don’t know everything. Don’t pretend. Ask all the questions you want." — Jedidiah Jenkins To Shake the Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret
"It wasn’t about winning. It was about fighting. Continuing the project of improvement. The intention and effort was what built character. Not success." — Jedidiah Jenkins To Shake the Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret
"In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important." — 11th Doctor Doctor Who, "A Christmas Carol"
"Popular kids never grow up to be interesting and…interesting kids are never popular." — Lena Dunham Not That Kind of Girl
"If you want to be someone who is brave, live with courage. If you want to be someone who is honest, tell the truth. If you want to be someone who is strong, do something that requires strength. Do those things and therefore become the kind of person who would do them. Wishing or aspiring to be a certain way does nothing. You must act. You must act that way until you are that way." — Carolyn Highland Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness
"It turns out there is a difference between wanting to be something and wanting to become something. Wanting to be something indicates a hope that somehow you will be struck by lightning and suddenly be that thing you wanted to be. Wouldn’t it be nice if I were suddenly, somehow, more outgoing, more confident. Hoping to be something is passive, and passivity gets you nowhere. Being is a state, and becoming is a process. And to be, you must become. Becoming requires work. Becoming requires action. Becoming means deciding you’re going to achieve something and taking real quantifiable steps in that direction." — Carolyn Highland Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness
"Saying something is impossible is a great way to get out of having to try." — Carolyn Highland Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness
"By taking off the pressure of having to excel at or master an activity, we allow ourselves to live in the moment. You might think this sounds simple enough, but living in the present is also something most of us suck at. Think about how focused you become when you’re presented with something totally new to accomplish. Now, what happens when that task is no longer new but still taps into intense focus because we haven’t yet mastered it? You’re a novice, an amateur, a kook. You suck at it. Some might think your persistence moronic. I like to think of it as meditative and full of promise. In the words of the Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki, 'In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind, there are few.’ … By exposing ourselves to the experience of trying and failing we might develop more empathy. If we succeed in shifting from snap judgments to patience, maybe we could be a little more helpful to one another—and a whole lot more understanding. If we accept our failures and persevere nonetheless, we might provide a respite from the imperative to succeed and instead find acceptance in trying. Failing is O.K. Better still, isn’t it a relief?" — Karen Rinaldi New York Times, "(It’s Great to) Suck at Something"
