All the statistics in the world can't
   measure the warmth of a smile.

"Passion, though a bad regulator,
is a powerful spring."
                                                 – Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson helped spark the transcendentalist movement with the essay Nature, which described his belief in the spiritual essence of humanity and the natural world. He was born in Boston in 1803. He was a Unitarian minister until he resigned in 1832 to become a philosopher and writer. He suffered the untimely deaths of many of his loved ones: three brothers, his first wife at age 20, and his eldest son at age five. Emerson died in 1882.

"We make a living by what we get,
  we make a life by what we give."
                                              – Sir Winston Churchill

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different."
                                                           – Katherine Mansfield

About Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was the pen name of short story writer Katherine Beauchamp, who is best known for her collection The Garden Party. Born in New Zealand in 1888, she moved to England as a young woman and became friends with writers such as Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence. Her writing style was influenced by Anton Chekhov; like him, she focused on intimate moments that revealed character. She in turn influenced a generation of short story writers. She died in 1923 of tuberculosis.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
                                                                   – Helen Keller

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."
                                                                    – e. e. cummings

About e. e. cummings

The writer who became known as e. e. cummings was an experimental poet whose idiosyncratic typography complements the music of his poetry; he published more than 900 poems, two novels, and four plays. He was also an accomplished painter. He was born in Massachusetts in 1894 and entered the ambulance corps in World War I but ended up in a detention camp after expressing his pacifist views. He died in 1962. "In Just-" was his most famous poem.

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
- T.S. Eliot

Don't ever be afraid to
admit you were wrong.
It's like saying you're
wiser today than you
were yesterday.

"I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often."