“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean. If a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out …where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs…because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…”

Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

(I love this quote, despite being a bit gendered, I’ll let Teddy off just this once as it is over a century old…)

“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard”

Anne Sexton

“Now, I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child - what do you want to be when you grow up?

As if growing up is finite.

As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”

Michelle Obama - Becoming

“It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention…”

Mary Oliver

“Be kind whenever possible.

It is always possible to be kind.”

The 14th Dalai Lama

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver

“You can do anything, but not everything.”

David Allen

“It’s what you do right now that makes a difference.”

Mark Bowden

“Is it so small a thing

To have enoy’d the sun,

To have lived light in the spring,

To have loved, to have thought to have done….?”

From the hymn of Empedocles

Matthew Arnold - The poetry Pharmacy Returns

“If you want to rest you have to take it.

You have to…make time for rest, take it seriously, and protect it from a world that is intent on stealing it…”

Alex Soojun-Kim Pang

“Be Brave.

Be Strong.

Breathe, and keep going.

You will thank yourself later.”

Matt Haig - Reasons to Stay Alive

“Life is short.

Be Kind.”

-Matt Haig - The Comfort Book

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost.”

JRR Tolkien

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood…”

-The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

“The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”

Viktor Frankl

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style.”

Maya Angelou