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Deep, Solemn Optimism, It Seems To Me, Should Spring From This Firm Belief In The Presence Of God In The Individual; Not A Remote, Unapproachable Governor Of The Universe, But A God Who Is Very Near Every One Of Us, Who Is Present Not Only In Earth, Sea And Sky, But Also In Every Pure And Noble Impulse Of Our Hearts.

-Helen Keller

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Deep, Solemn Optimism, It

Helen Keller

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Deep, Solemn Optimism, It Seems To Me, Should Spring From This Firm Belief In The Presence Of God In The Individual; Not A Remote, Unapproachable Governor Of The Universe, But A God Who Is Very Near Every One Of Us, Who Is Present Not Only In Earth, Sea And Sky, But Also In Every Pure And Noble Impulse Of Our Hearts.

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How Spiritually Blind Are Men That They Fail To See That We Are Bound Together. We Rise Or Fall Together; We Are Dwarfed Or Godlike, Free Or Chained, Together.

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Use Your Eyes As If Tomorrow You Would Be Stricken Blind. Hear The Music Of Voices, The Song Of Birds, The Mighty Strains Of An Orchestra As If You Would Be Stricken Deaf Tomorrow . . . Smell The Perfume Of Flowers, Taste With Relish Each Morsel As If Tomorrow You Could Never Smell And Taste Again. Glory In All The Facts Of Pleasure And Beauty Which The World Reveals To You.

The Few Own The Many Because They Possess The Means Of Livelihood Of All ... The Country Is Governed For The Richest, For The Corporations, The Bankers, The Land Speculators, And For The Exploiters Of Labor. The Majority Of Mankind Are Working People. So Long As Their Fair Demands - The Ownership And Control Of Their Livelihoods - Are Set At Naught, We Can Have Neither Men's Rights Nor Women's Rights. The Majority Of Mankind Is Ground Down By Industrial Oppression In Order That The Small Remnant May Live In Ease.

There Is No King Who Has Not Had A Slave Among His Ancestors, And No Slave Who Has Not Had A King Among His.

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History Is A Record Of The Incessant Struggle Of Humanity Against Ignorance And Oppression.

Certainly I Believe That God Gave Us Life For Happiness, Not Misery. Humanity, I Am Sure, Will Never Be Made Lazy Or Indifferent By An Excess Of Happiness. Many Persons Have A Wrong Idea Of What Constitutes True Happiness. It Is Not Attained Through Self-gratification But Through Fidelity To A Worthy Purpose. Happiness Should Be A Means Of Accomplishment, Like Health, Not An End In Itself.

When We Do The Best That We Can, We Never Know What Miracle Is Wrought In Our Life, Or In The Life Of Another.

Tolerance Is The First Principle Of Community; It Is The Spirit Which Conserves The Best That All Men Think.

He Who Is Content With What Has Been Done Is An Obstacle In The Path Of Progress.

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What If In My Waking Hours A Sound Should Ring Through The Silent Halls Of Hearing? ... Would The Bow And String Tension Of Life Snap? Would The Heart Over Weighted With Sudden Joy Stop Beating For Very Excess Of Happiness?

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No Pessimist Ever Discovered The Secrets Of The Stars.

Life Is A Daring Adventure Or Nothing.

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Great Poetry Needs No Interpreter Other Than A Responsive Heart.

While They Were Saying Among Themselves It Cannot Be Done, It Was Done.

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I Prefer To Stroll Which Has A Buddy At Nighttime, Than By Itself Inside The Light.

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Fear: The Best Way Out Is Through.

Happiness Rarely Keeps Company With An Empty Stomach

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Character Cannot Be Developed In Ease And Quiet.

I Don't Give A Damn About Semi-radicals!

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I Do Not Like The World As It Is; So I Am Trying To Make It A Little More As I Want It.

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It Is A Terrible Thing To See And Have No Vision.

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The Worst Thing Is To Be Born Sighted But To Lack Vision.

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When All You Can Feel Are The Shadows, Turn Your Face Towards The Sun.

Relationships Are Like Rome -- Difficult To Start Out, Incredible During The Prosperity Of The 'golden Age', And Unbearable During The Fall. Then, A New Kingdom Will Come Along And The Whole Process Will Repeat Itself Until You Come Across A Kingdom Like Egypt... That Thrives, And Continues To Flourish. This Kingdom Will Become Your Best Friend, Your Soul Mate, And Your Love.

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Look The World Straight In The Eye.

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True Friends Never Apart Maybe In Distance But Never In Heart

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No Smile Is As Beautiful As The One That Struggles Through Tears.

I Can Not Do Everything, But I Can Do Something. I Must Not Fail To Do The Something That I Can Do.

Even More Amazing Than The Wonders Of Nature Are The Powers Of The Spirit.

Wonder Of Nature

Let Pessimism Once Take Hold Of The Mind, And Life Is All Topsy-turvy, All Vanity And Vexation Of Spirit. There Is No Cure For Individual Or Social Disorder, Except In Forgetfulness And Annihilation.

The Most Important Day I Remember In All My Life Is The One On Which My Teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Came To Me. I Am Filled With Wonder When I Consider The Immeasurable Contrasts Between The Two Lives Which It Connects. It Was The Third Of March, 1887, Three Months Before I Was Seven Years Old.

What Can Rulers, Nobility And All The Lords Of The Earth Say To Justify The Horrible Killing And Maiming Of Twenty Or Thirty Million Valuable Men Who A Short While Ago Ploughed, Dug, Wove, Built, Guided The Traffic Of The World, Took Their Pleasure, Loved Their Fellows, Cherished Their Families, And Feared Naught?

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A Well-educated Mind Will Always Have More Questions Than Answers.

A Happy Life Consists Not In The Absence, But In The Mastery Of Hardships.

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I Am Conscious Of A Soul-sense That Lifts Me Above The Narrow, Cramping Circumstances Of My Life. My Physical Limitations Are Forgotten- My World Lies Upward, The Length And The Breadth And The Sweep Of The Heavens Are Mine!

To Keep On Trying In Spite Of Disappointment And Failure Is The Only Way To Keep Young And Brave. Failures Become Victories If They Make Us Wise-hearted.

People Often ... Have No Idea How Fair The Flower Is To The Touch, Nor Do They Appreciate Its Fragrance, Which Is The Soul Of The Flower.

We, The People, Are Not Free. Our Democracy Is But A Name. We Vote? What Does That Mean? It Means We Choose Between Tweedledee And Tweedledum. We Elect Expensive Masters To Do Our Work For Us, And Then Blame Them Because They Work For Themselves And For Their Class.

The Best And Most Beautiful Things In The World Cannot Be Seen Or Even Touched - They Must Be Felt With The Heart.

Blindness Separates Us From Things But Deafness Separates Us From People.

The Best Christmas Gift Of All Is The Presence Of A Happy Family All Wrapped Up With One Another. Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! From A Little Spark May Burst A Mighty Flame. The Only Blind Person At Christmastime Is He Who Has Not Christmas In His Heart.

I Can See In What You Call The Dark, But Which To Me Is Golden.

Death Is No More Than Passing From One Room Into Another.

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Usually They Are Quick To Discover That I Cannot See Or Hear.... It Is Not Training But Love Which Impels Them To Break Their Silence About Me With The Thud Of A Tail Rippling Against My Chair On Gambols Round The Study, Or News Conveyed By Expressive Ear, Nose, And Paw. Often I Yearn To Give Them Speech, Their Motions Are So Eloquent With Things They Cannot Say.

The Human Being Is Born With An Incurable Capacity For Making The Best Of Things.

With Every Friend I Love Who Has Been Taken Into The Brown Bosom Of The Earth A Part Of Me Has Been Buried There; But Their Contribution To My Being Of Happiness, Strength And Understanding Remains To Sustain Me In An Altered World.

What Do I Consider A Teacher Should Be? One Who Breathes Life Into Knowledge So That It Takes New Form In Progress And Civilization.

I Have Walked With People Whose Eyes Are Full Of Light But Who See Nothing In Sea Or Sky, Nothing In City Streets, Nothing In Books. It Were Far Better To Sail Forever In The Night Of Blindness With Sense, And Feeling, And Mind, Than To Be Content With The Mere Act Of Seeing. The Only Lightless Dark Is The Night Of Darkness In Ignorance And Insensibility.

Truly I Have Looked In The Very Heart Of Darkness And Refused To Yield To Its Paralyzing Influence, But In Spirit I Am One Of Those Who Walk The Morning.

Few Pleasures There Are Indeed Without An Aftertouch Of Pain, But That Is The Preservation Which Keeps Them Sweet.

I Take Happiness Very Seriously. It Is A Creed, A Philosophy And An Objective.

Character Cannot Be Developed In Ease And Quiet. Only Through Experience Of Trial And Suffering Can The Soul Be Strengthened, Ambition Inspired, And Success Achieved.

Now, However, I See The Folly Of Attempting To Hitch One's Wagon To A Star With A Harness That Does Not Belong To It.

Life Is An Adventure Or Nothing

Life Is An Adventure

I Am Only One, But Still I Am One. I Cannot Do Everything, But Still I Can Do Something; And Because I Cannot Do Everything, I Will Not Refuse To Do The Something That I Can Do.

To Me A Lush Carpet Of Pine Needles Or Spongy Grass Is More Welcome Than The Most Luxurious Persian Rug.

Your Success And Happiness Lies In You. Resolve To Keep Happy, And Your Joy And You Shall Form An Invincible Host Against Difficulties.

Toleration Is The Greatest Gift Of The Mind.

To Keep Our Faces Toward Chance And Behave Like Free Spirits In The Presence Of Fate Is Strength Undefeatable.

One's Life Story Cannot Be Told With Complete Veracity. A True Autobiography Would Have To Be Written In States Of Mind, Emotions, Heartbeats, Smiles And Tears; Not In Months And Years, Or Physical Events. Life Is Marked Off On The Soul By Feelings, Not By Dates.

I Think The Degree Of A Nation's Civilisation May Be Measured By The Degree Of Enlightenment Of Its Women.

No Matter How Dull, Or How Mean, Or How Wise A Man Is, He Feels That Happiness Is His Indisputable Right.

When One Door Of Hapiness Closes, Another Opens.

There's Only One Story, The Story Of Your Life.

I Am A Child Of My Generation, And I Rejoice That I Live In Such Splendidly Disturbing Times.

Joy Is A Spiritual Element That Gives Vicissitudes Unity And Significance.

One Can Never Consent To Creep When One Feels An Impulse To Soar.

I Look Upon The Whole World As My Fatherland, And Every War Has To Me The Horror Of A Family Feud.

I, Who Cannot See, Find Hundreds Of Things To Interest Me Through Mere Touch. I Feel The Delicate Symmetry Of A Leaf. I Pass My Hands Lovingly About The Smooth Skin Of A Silver Birch, Or The Rough Shaggy Bark Of A Pine.

The Joy Of Surmounting Obstacles Which Once Seemed Unremovable, And Pushing The Frontier Of Accomplishment Further — What Joy Is There Like Unto It?

We Must Not Creep Along When Our Souls Cry Out For Us To Soar!

Touch Each Object As If Tomorrow You Would Never Be Able To Feel Anything Again.

Unless We Form The Habit Of Going To The Bible In Bright Moments As Well As In Trouble, We Cannot Fully Respond To Its Consolations Because We Lack Equilibrium Between Light And Darkness.

Life Is Either A Great Adventure Or Nothing.

The Most Important Day I Remember In All My Life Is The One On Which My Teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Came To Me

It Is A Mistake Always To Contemplate The Good And Ignore The Evil, Because By Making People Neglectful It Lets In Disaster. There Is A Dangerous Optimism Of Ignorance And Indifference.

The Hands Of Those I Meet Are Dumbly Eloquent To Me. The Touch Of Some Hands Is An Impertinence. I Have Met People So Empty Of Joy, That When I Clasped Their Frosty Finger-tips, It Seemed As If I Were Shaking Hands With A Northeast Storm.

If We Make Up Our Minds That This Is A Drab And Purposeless Universe, It Will Be That, And Nothing Else. On The Other Hand, If We Believe That The Earth Is Ours, And That The Sun And Moon Hang In The Sky For Our Delight, There Will Be Joy Upon The Hills And Gladness In The Fields Because The Artist In Our Souls Glorifies Creation. Surely, It Gives Dignity To Life To Believe That We Are Born Into This World For Noble Ends, And That We Have A Higher Destiny Than Can Be Accomplished Within The Narrow Limits Of This Physical Life.

Everybody Talks, Nobody Listens. Good Listeners Are As Rare As White Crows.

Is Love The Sweetness Of Flowers?

I Had Once Believed That We Were All Masters Of Our Fate--that We Could Mold Our Lives Into Any Form We Pleased... I Had Overcome Deafness And Blindness Sufficiently To Be Happy, And I Supposed That Anyone Could Come Out Victorious If He Threw Himself Valiantly Into Life's Struggle. But As I Went More And More About The Country I Learned That I Had Spoken With Assurance On A Subject I Knew Little About... I Learned That The Power To Rise In The World Is Not Within The Reach Of Everyone.

Face Your Deficiencies And Acknowledge Them; But Do Not Let Them Master You. Let Them Teach You Patience, Sweetness, Insight. True Education Combines Intellect, Beauty, Goodness, And The Greatest Of These Is Goodness. When We Do The Best That We Can, We Never Know What Miracle Is Wrought In Our Life, Or In The Life Of Another.

The Few Who Profit From The Labor Of The Masses Want To Organize The Workers Into An Army Which Will Protect The Interests Of The Capitalists.

The Breakage And Agony Rending Us Today Will Be Our Salvation If They Drive Us By New Routes To Meet It. No One Can Proxy For Us A Masterpiece Of Loving Or Experience For Us The Rapture Of Art Or Launch For Us Book Ships Freighted With Sweet Bread To Strengthen Man. As Of Old We Must Be Our Own Seers, Musicians And Explorers, And To An Extent Vaster Than Ever Before.

One Painful Duty Fulfilled Makes The Next Plainer And Easier.

Self Discipline

The Hands Of Those I Meet Are Dumbly Eloquent To Me. The Touch Of Some Hands Is An Impertinence. I Have Met People So Empty Of Joy, That When I Clasped Their Frosty Finger-tips, It Seemed As If I Were Shaking Hands With A Northeast Storm. Others There Are Whose Hands Have Sunbeams In Them, So That Their Grasp Warms My Heart. It May Be Only The Clinging Touch Of A Child's Hand; But There Is As Much Potential Sunshine In It For Me As There Is In A Loving Glance For Others. A Hearty Handshake Or A Friendly Letter Gives Me Genuine Pleasure.

It Is Hard To Interest Those Who Have Everything In Those Who Have Nothing.

The Wise Fools Who Sit In The High Places Of Justice Fail To See That In Revolutionary Times Vital Issues Are Settled Not By Statutes, Decrees And Authorities, But In Spite If Them.

The Things You Do Today That You Don't Have To Do Will Determine Who, What, And Where You Will Be When It Is Too Late To Do Anything About The Things You Should Have Done.

I Grow More And More Suspicious Of The Political Powers That Take Men Away From Their Work And Set Them Shooting One Another.

I Know No Study That Will Take You Nearer The Way To Happiness Than The Study Of Nature - And I Include In The Study Of Nature Not Only Things And Their Forces, But Also Mankind And Their Ways, And The Moulding Of The Affections And The Will Into An Earnest Desire Not Only To Be Happy, But To Create Happiness.

We Could Never Learn To Be Brave And Patient, If There Were Only Joy In The World.

If I, Deaf, Blind, Find Life Rich And Interesting, How Much More Can You Gain By The Use Of Your Five Senses!

I Believe In The Immortality Of The Soul Because I Have Within Me Immortal Longings.

It Is Not Possible To Refer A Complex Difficulty To A Single Cause.

Faith Reinvigorates The Will, Enriches The Affections, And Awakens A Sense Of Creativeness. Active Faith Knows No Fear, And It Is A Safeguard To Me Against Cynicism And Despair.

I Am Beginning To Suspect All Elaborate And Special Systems Of Education. They Seem To Me To Be Built Up On The Supposition That Every Child Is A Kind Of Idiot Who Must Be Taught To Think. Whereas, If The Child Is Left To Himself, He Will Think More And Better, If Less Showily.

Now I Feel As If I Should Succeed In Doing Something In Mathematics, Although I Cannot See Why It Is So Very Important. . . The Knowledge Doesn't Make Life Any Sweeter Or Happier, Does It?

Optimism Is The Faith That Leads To Achievement. Nothing Can Be Done Without Hope And Confidence.

Christmas Day Is The Festival Of Optimism.

If We Believe That The Sun And Moon Hang In The Sky For Our Delight, There Will Be Joy Upon The Hills And Gladness In The Fields.

I, For One, Love Strength, Daring, Fortitude. I Do Not Want People To Kill The Fight In Them; I Want Them To Fight For Right Things.

Love Is Like A Beautiful Flower Which I May Not Touch, But Whose Fragrance Makes The Garden A Place Of Delight Just The Same.

The Highest Result Of Education Is Tolerance.

This World Is So Full Of Care And Sorrow That It Is A Gracious Debt We Owe To One Another To Discover The Bright Crystals Of Delight Hidden In Somber Circumstances And Irksome Tasks.

Instead Of Comparing Our Lot With That Of Those Who Are More Fortunate Than We Are, We Should Compare It With The Lot Of The Great Majority Of Our Fellow Men. It Then Appears That We Are Among The Privileged.

The Hilltop Hour Would Not Be Half So Wonderful If There Were No Dark Valleys To Traverse.

Joy Is The Holy Fire That Keeps Our Purpose Warm And Our Intelligence Aglow.

Not The Senses I Have But What I Do With Them Is My Kingdom.

It Is Better To Have No Sight Than It Is To Have No Vision.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You. External Conditions Are The Accidents Of Life, Its Outer Trappings. The Great, Enduring Realities Are Love Of Service. Joy Is The Holy Fire That Keeps Our Purpose Warm And Our Intelligence Aglow. Resolve To Keep Happy, And Your Joy And You Shall Form An Invincible Host Against Difficulty.

Be Heroes In An Army Of Construction.

I Will Not Just Live My Life. I Will Not Just Spend My Life. I Will Invest My Life.

Of All The Senses, Sight Must Be The Most Delightful.

Change May Be The Vitalizing Wind Blowing Through The House Of Life, But It Is Not An Abiding Force. We Need Permanent Things To Soak Peace Into Us As Well As Progress - The Beauty Of The Earth, Seedtime And Harvest, The Smiles Of Lovers, The Joy Of The Young In Being Alive, Pride In Craftsmanship. Why, Oh Why Must We Let Ourselves Forget These Lasting Treasures In An Age Of Consuming Ambition, Speed Madness And Accumulated Goods That Leave Us No Chance To Live? If We Cannot Be Contented With A Little No Wealth Will Ever Satisfy Us.

It Is So Pleasant To Learn About New Things. Every Day I Find How Little I Know, But I Do Not Feel Discouraged Since God Has Given Me An Eternity In Which To Learn More.

Every Child Has A Right To Be Well-born, Well-nurtured And Well-taught, And Only The Freedom Of Woman Can Guarantee Him This Right.

Ruth Is So Loyal And Gentle-hearted, We Cannot Help Loving Her, As She Stands With The Reapers Amid The Waving Corn. Her Beautiful, Unselfish Spirit Shines Out Like A Bright Star In The Night Of A Dark And Cruel Age. Love Like Ruth's, Love Which Can Rise Above Conflicting Creeds And Deep-seated Racial Prejudices, Is Hard To Find In All The World.

So Much Has Been Given Me I Have No Time To Ponder Over That Which Has Been Denied.

Famous Inspirational

If I Regarded My Life From The Point Of View Of The Pessimist, I Should Be Undone. I Should Seek In Vain For The Light That Does Not Visit My Eyes And The Music That Does Not Ring In My Ears. I Should Beg Night And Day And Never Be Satisfied. I Should Sit Apart In Awful Solitude, A Prey To Fear And Despair. But Since I Consider It A Duty To Myself And To Others To Be Happy, I Escape A Misery Worse Than Any Physical Deprivation.

In A Word, Literature Is My Utopia. Here I Am Not Disfranchised. No Barrier Of The Senses Shuts Me Out From The Sweet, Gracious Discourse Of My Book-friends. They Talk To Me Without Embarrassment Or Awkwardness. The Things I Have Learned And The Things I Have Been Taught Seem Of Ridiculously Little Importance Compared With Their "large Loves And Heavenly Charities.

I Hung About The Dangerous Frontier Of "guess," Avoiding With Infinite Trouble To Myself And Others The Broad Valley Of Reason.

I Regard Philanthropy As A Tragic Apology For Wrong Conditions Under Which Human Beings Live.

Until The Great Mass Of The People Shall Be Filled With The Sense Of Responsibility For Each Other's Welfare, Social Justice Can Never Be Attained.

Make The Most Of Every Sense; Glory In All The Facets Of Pleasure And Beauty Which The World Reveals To You...

When Indeed Shall We Learn That We Are All Related One To The Other, That We Are All Members Of One Body?

The Only Thing Worse Than Being Blind Is Having Sight But No Vision.

There Is A Dangerous Optimism Of Ignorance And Indifference.

I Have An Unshakable Belief That Mankind's Higher Nature Is On The Whole Still Dormant. The Greatest Souls Reveal Excellencies Of Mind And Heart Which Their Lesser Fellows Possess-hidden, It Is True, But There All The Same.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You. External Conditions Are The Accidents Of Life, Its Outer Trappings.

A Smile Goes A Long Way, But You Must First Start It On Its Journey.

Love? Why ... It Is What Everybody Feels For Everybody Else.

I Demand That The World Be Good, And Lo, It Obeys. I Proclaim The World Good, And Facts Range Themselves To Prove My Proclamation Overwhelmingly True. To What Good I Open The Doors Of My Being, And Jealously Shut Them Against What Is Bad. Such Is The Force Of This Beautiful And Willful Conviction, It Carries Itself In The Face Of All Opposition. I Am Never Discouraged By Absence Of Good. I Never Can Be Argued Into Hopelessness. Doubt And Mistrust Are The Mere Panic Of Timid Imagination, Which The Steadfast Heart Will Conquer, And The Large Mind Transcend.

It Is With A Kind Of Fear That I Begin To Write The History Of My Life.

Story Of My Life

Blindness Is An Unfortunate Handicap But True Vision Does Not Require The Eyes.

What Really Counts In Life Is The Quiet Meeting Of Every Difficulty With The Determination To Get Out Of It All The Good There Is.

I Learned That It Is Possible For Us To Create Light, Sound And Order Within Us No Matter What Calamity Befall Us In The Outer World.

I Thank God For My Handicaps. For Through Them, I Have Found Myself, My Work And My God.

Knowing Who You Are

Never Bend Your Head. Always Hold It High. Look The World Straight In The Eye.

For My Part, I Wish, With Mr. Howells, That The Literature Of The Past Might Be Purged Of All That Is Ugly And Barbarous In It, Although I Should Object As Much As Any One To Having These Great Works Weakened Or Falsified.

Many Persons Have A Wrong Idea Of What Constitutes True Happiness. It Is Not Attained Through Self-gratification But Through Fidelity To A Worthy Purpose.

The Fearful Are Caught As Often As The Bold.

The Only Real Blind Person At Christmas Time Is He Who Has Not Christmas In His Heart.

I Trust, And I Recognize The Beneficence Of The Power Which We All Worship As Supreme- Order, Fate, The Great Spirit, Nature, God. I Recognize This Power In The Sun That Makes All Things Grow And Keeps Life Afoot. I Make A Friend Of This Indefinable Force…this Is My Religion Of Optimism.

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Rose Wilder Lane

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