paints

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

power

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

in progress

...when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that's always in progress.

Anne Lamott

reason

There is no reason to fear the wind if your stack of hay is well tied.

Irish saying

brave

Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.

Mary Tyler Moore (1936 - )

secrets

may my heart always be open to little

birds who are the secrets of living

e. e. cummings

dream

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)

wonders

He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder.

M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972)

endings

But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet In Heaven

scars

It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.

Garrison Keillor (1942 - ), in Salon.com

citizens

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978)

giving

The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

try

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

convinced

Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.

Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), Les Miserables, 1862

dimly

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.

Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)

diligence

What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence.

Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), Lives of the Poets

funny

When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)