“Every coin has two sides. Every mountain has a valley. For every strength there is a weakness. Every up has a down. For every in there is an out. For every height there is a depth. Life itself is a mosaic of light and dark. And every human is a study in opposites, a kaleidoscope of good and bad, positive and negative, hopes and losses, dreams and disappointments, successes and failures, courage and fear, confidence and insecurity, power and vulnerability. We do not live in a homogeneous world. We live in a world of brilliant contrasts, vivid diversity, striking polarity, and eloquent disparity…a stunning array of sometimes gorgeous, sometimes glaring, always fascinating differences.”

“As night falls, let the day’s troubles slip away into the darkness and rest well knowing tomorrow brings a new day, a new chance to do things better, a new opportunity to make things right. And when the new day dawns, awaken a little wiser, a little older, a little more prepared for the future. That’s simply the pattern of life, my friends, a tapestry of light threaded with darkness, laughter threaded with tears, hope threaded with despair, wisdom threaded with failure, insight threaded with regret. It’s just how we learn and grow as humans, and that’s okay. It’s enough to end each day knowing we’ve done our best and we’ll do our best again tomorrow.”

“Healing is not a straight and narrow road that leads from darkness to light. There’s no sudden epiphany to take us from despair to serenity, no orchestrated steps to move us from hurting to healed. Healing is a winding mountain road with steep climbs and sudden descents, breathtaking views and breath-stealing drop-offs, dark tunnels and blinding exposures, dead ends and endless backtracks, rest stops and break downs, sheer rock walls and panoramic vistas. Healing is a journey with no destination, because healing is the journey of every lifetime.”

“Beauty is not found in uniformity,nor value in conformity. It is in ourcolors and quirks and flaws and scarsthat true beauty and value unfold,because that is where our stories are told.”

“The job of each generation is to solve more problems than they create and to lift up the next generation to be better than the last. Simply repeating the past does neither.”

“Want world peace?Be peaceful. Think the world needs more kindness?Be kind. Want a better world?Be a better person. #wearetheworld”

“The only way to heal from the pain of the past is to walk through that pain in the present. It’s terrifying, I know. It feels safer to just let the pain continue to smolder in the darkest parts of yourself. But the dark parts need tending, too, my friend. Don’t be afraid to breathe life back into those embers of old pain, to rekindle the fires of unhealed hurts. The flames aren’t there to burn you. They are there to light your way through pain to healing. You can walk through courageous and confident or shaking in your boots. It doesn’t matter. Just walk through it. Hurt will transform into hope, wounds into wisdom, suffering into scars that tell of battles won and lost and of a human who survived it all.”

“The Dream I Dream For You, My Child…I hope you search for four-leaf clovers,grin back at Cheshire moons,breathe in the springtime breezes,and dance with summer loons.I hope you gaze in wide-eyed wonderat the buzzing fireflyand rest beneath the sunlit treesas butterflies fly by.I hope you gather simple treasuresof pebbles, twigs, and leavesand marvel at the fragile webthe tiny spider weaves.I hope you read poetry and fairy talesand sing silly, made-up songs,and pretend to be a superherorighting this world’s wrongs.I hope your days are filled with magicand your nights with happy dreams,and you grow up knowing that happiness is found in simple things.The dream I dream for you, my child,as you discover, learn, and grow,is that you find these simple joyswherever in life you go.”

“Patience is an inner pause, a brief stillness, a moment we give ourselves to breathe through our initial reaction so we can move to the place where a calm, thoughtful response is born. Patience is a gift of time we give ourselves so we can give the gift of peace to others.”

“Tell me the truth.If I cut out my heart, and gave it to you, would that make me any less than human?”

“I’ve been quite happy. Look, here are my proofs. Remember that I am indifferent to discomforts which would harass other folk. What do the circumstances of life matter if your dreams make you lord paramount of time and space?”

“Be a good human.”

“Try not to be self-conscious […] or so critical. Don’t mope around looking for someone else to make you happy, and remember that the vast majority of homosexuals are looking for a superman to love and find it very difficult to love anyone merely human, which we unfortunately happen to be.”

“The more I understand the mind and the human experience, the more I begin to suspect there is no such thing as unhappiness; there is only ungratefulness.”

“It is not what he has, nor even what he does, which directly expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.”