"...because originality and greatness come from the willingness to take risks.  To leap into the void.  To do what scares you.  And while it may seem that this leap would take confidence, what it really takes to leap is courage.  Which is a whole other kettle of fish. Courage involves feeling your fear -- and doing it anyway."
-Dani Shapiro here

Accept

“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” - Ray Bradbury

"It is through the body that you realize you are a spark of divinity." -b.k.s. iyengar

"If we would only listen with the same passion that we feel about wanting to be heard."  
-Harriet Lerner, Marriage Rules

From Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer by Brother David Steindl-Rast

"Ordinary happiness depends on happenstance.

Joy is that extraordinary happiness that is independent of what happens to us.

Good luck can make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is gratefulness. We tend to misunderstand the link between joy and gratefulness. We notice that joyful people are grateful and suppose that they are grateful for their joy. But the reverse is true: their joy springs from gratefulness. If one has all the good luck in the world, but takes it for granted, it will not give one joy. Yet even bad luck will give joy to those who manage to be grateful for it.

We hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful."

Atoms

“What a sad era when it is easier to smash an atom than a prejudice.”

- Albert Einstein 

Almost

"Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not know how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Edison

History

"History is an ongoing dialogue between present and past. It's about us as much as it's about them. Think about that it is the study of how things change. We often talk about the way the past influences the present and the future, but I don't think we talk nearly enough about how the present shapes the past."
-Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard, Mormon Stories Conference Boston 2012

Mixed

“I like the idea of wearing a glamourous coat with comfortable shoes; evening dresses with flats. I like it when there are two messages in one silhouette. I like it when it’s not first-degree sexy; when it’s not first-degree severe. I like it when everything is mixed.”

- Guillaume Henry, Creative Director of Carven 

Look

“I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”

- John Steinbeck, Winter of Our Discontent

Me.

"You won't do it at the right time. You'll be late. You'll be early. You'll get re-routed. You'll get delayed. You'll change your mind. You'll change your heart. It's not going to turn out the way you thought it would. It will be better."

Kate Molle

Stop and Start

"Sometimes I'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts."

Edgar Allen Poe

Excite

The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?

— Tim Ferriss

Noted

"So, may I plead with anyone out there who may need to hear this - do not idolize that which you don't have.  Coveting and envy is the energy of ignoring whatever it is that you have.  It's the energy of desiring to have your circumstances (or other people) control your wellness.  If you find yourself idolizing someone else's life or marriage, let that be a gentle reminder to you to reassess.

And, if you covet anything, covet character.  Rejoice in someone else's good marriage and wisdom and say:  I will learn from them; I will follow their path; I will use my own marriage to develop those skills & virtues for myself.  You can develop character no matter what state your spouse is in, no matter what your spouse does.  If you choose to pursue virtues, you'll come out on top."  
-Mara found here