Adams Media - Quotes to Live By: Words That Inspire Those Who Inspire Us

Life itself is a quotation.Jorge Luis Borges Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors. Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, lecturer, poet The wisdom of our predecessors is preserved in their unforgettable words. The successful, the innovative, the brilliant, and the bold are forever alive in witticisms and proverbs we cant seem to shake. The most important ones, though, may be the words that empowered our own heroes. An ancient proverb may have changed an artists perspective forever. A mentors instructions may have guided an activists philosophy.

An anonymous letter may have touched a leaders heart forever. People we respect and admire have used all of the quotations in this collection through speeches, lectures, interviews, letters, and books of their own. They have relied on these words of wisdom to send off graduating classes, to honor others successes, and to empower nations. Some of the quotations have been cornerstones to some of the worlds most famous speeches, well-worn and powerful in their own right; others may have had less weight when first mentioned, but reflect something deeper, more meaningful in retrospect. Whatever the case, whatever the context, these 142 quotations made a difference in the lives of the most successful, inspiring people in the worldand they can change yours, too.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, activist SHERYL SANDBERG CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF FACEBOOK AND ITS FIRST FEMALE BOARD MEMBER What would you do if you werent afraid? Spencer Johnson, bestselling author of Who Moved My Cheese?KATIE COURIC TELEVISION JOURNALIST Carry your courage in an easily accessible place, the way you do your cellphone or your wallet. Courage is the ultimate career move. Anna Quindlen, bestselling author and journalist JOHN MCCAIN UNITED STATES SENATOR Defeat is never fatal. Victory is never final. Winston Churchill, politician, statesman MICHELLE OBAMA FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES, LAWYER There were so many things they said women couldnt do and blacks couldnt do. Winston Churchill, politician, statesman MICHELLE OBAMA FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES, LAWYER There were so many things they said women couldnt do and blacks couldnt do.

Every defeat to me was a challenge. Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of Childrens Defense Fund JOHN F. KENNEDY UNITED STATES PRESIDENT All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth Colony and author of Of Plymouth PlantationMADELEINE ALBRIGHT UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE I know were going to die. But some of us are going to do something about it. K. K.

CHESTERTON PROLIFIC VICTORIAN WRITER If Im ever to reach any understanding of myself and the things around me, I must learn to stand alone. Henrik Ibsen, from his play, A Dolls HouseKRISTIN HANNAH NOVELIST There are some things you learn best in calm, some in storm. Willa Cather, Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist, quoted as an epigraph to Hannahs novel Home FrontWALTER ISAACSON CELEBRATED BIOGRAPHER Dont be afraid, you can do it. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Inc. TED KENNEDY UNITED STATES SENATOR, IN HIS EULOGY FOR ROBERT F. Alfred Lord Tennyson, from his poem, Ulysses MITT ROMNEY GOVERNOR, BUSINESSMAN, CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES You do not determine a mans greatness by his talent or wealth, as the world does, but rather by what it takes to discourage him. Jerry Falwell, pastor LAURA LINNEY ACTRESS Failure seldom stops you. Jerry Falwell, pastor LAURA LINNEY ACTRESS Failure seldom stops you.

What stops you is the fear of failure. Jack Lemmon, actor PARAG KHANNA INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EXPERT, GEOPOLITICAL ADVISOR, AUTHOR What doesnt kill me makes me stronger. Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher NEIL GAIMAN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist leader, pioneer of non-violent civil disobedience ELEANOR ROOSEVELT FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES, DELEGATE TO THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY The central fact is that man is fundamentally a moral being, that the light we have is imperfect does not matter so long as we are always trying to improve it