“But if you ask me what I remember (about 1945), I will say it was the year Franklin D. Roosevelt died and I got one of his flowers. I will tell you that yellow rose give me the courage to do the right thing even if it was hard. I will say it was the time in my life when I learned all of us is fragile as a mimosa blossom. But the miracle of all is, When push comes to shove, we can be just as tough as Hickory. It mostly hurts at first. After a while it starts to feel better.”

“Give up isn’t going to helpKeep going on will help”

“May you find the strength of will and the grace of endurance to overcome every challenge.”

“what once cause catastrophe in my life has now become the catalyst for my direction.”

“Be strong. Even when you can’t be.”

“Hope and faith underlie a promise,and love energizes men to realize it.”

“It was not my intention to collapse; no, I would die standing.”

“Strength and success – they are above morality, above criticism. It seems, then, that it is not what you do, but how you do it and what you call it. Is there a check in men, deep in them, that stops or punishes? There doesn’t seem to be. The only punishment is for failure. In effect no crime is committed unless a criminal is caught.”

“To die,so young to die.No, no, not I,I love the warm sunny skies,light, song, shining eyes,I want no war, no battle cry,No, no, not I.”

“Only those few who are able to surpass their fear of death completely can fully experience the highest forms of life; not the mundane life of the mortal, but the godly life of the resurrected.”

“The first gift is Strength. May you remember to call upon it whenever you need it.”

“Even after the stormiest weather, a true warrior will still reflect the brilliant rays of the magnificent sun through both his or her eyes. You may get hit by sudden lighting or take severe beatings from the cruel wind, but you will always get back up and stand strong on your feet again, soak in the sunlight, and be prepared to get hit by even the most merciless hail – time and time again.”

“I think this is what we all want to hear: that we are not alone in hitting the bottom, and that it is possible to come out of that place courageous, beautiful, and strong.”