“The average is indicative of a trend, not of a necessity or of a universal truth. Often, it is those outside the norm, the exceptional ones, who point to the truth of what is possible.” (Ben-Shahar, 2007, p. 138)

Ben-Shahar, T. (2007). Happier: Learn the secrets of daily joy and lasting fulfillment. New York: McGraw-Hill.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mohandas Gandhi

“Although we don’t live in the past, we live with the past.” – Rabbi Mark Miller

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” (Williamson, 1992, p. 165)

Willliamson, M. (1992). A return to love: Reflections on the principles of a course in miracles. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

“Memory is the personal journalism of the soul.” – Richard Schickel

“If I study, I seek only the learning that … instructs me in how to die well and live well.” – Michel de Montaigne (p. 297) Read the full story

“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” – Malcolm Forbes [quotes]

“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” – The Serenity Prayer (1943) by Reinhold Niebuhr

“Our best chance for happiness is education.”- Mark Van Doren

“To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.” (Mill, 1859, p. 27) Read the full story

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman

“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.  It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.” (Kennedy, 1968)

Kennedy, R. F. (1968, March 18). Address. University of Kansas, Lawrence.

“When well-being comes from engaging our strengths and virtues, our lives are imbued with authenticity.” (Seligman, 2002a, p. 9) Read the full story

“I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.