Gratitude

In the end, life is about the big and small things. The 'A' on the exam and the car-ride conversations, the game-winning touchdown and the 'Hi' in the hallway. What we view as the smaller things are the more important things.

Nearly losing my life made me want to live my life.

The corollary to carpe diem is gratitude — gratitude for simply being alive, for having a day to seize. The taking of breath, the beating of the heart.

Sometimes we need an event to shock us into the present. Some of us require a catastrophic experience to remind us that we are indeed alive. Others know this from their reading of poetry — a somewhat less traumatic experience.

Life is not about warming yourself by the fire. Life is about building the fire. And generosity is the match.

When you're screwing up and nobody's saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.

From those to whom much is given, much is expected.

A lot of people have worked awfully hard to help give you the education of a lifetime. Now it's up to you to decide what to do with it.

Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Delaying happiness along with gratification is quite another thing, because each milestone along your path ought to have its own form of happiness.

The only things that are sure to endure are the artifacts of love. So go out and build as many as you can.

Never underestimate the power of other people's love and prayer. They have incredible power. It's as if I've been carried on the shoulders of an entire army. And they had made me weightless.

There is more in any human being to celebrate than to denigrate.