Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway

"Artistry exists in everyone. What makes it blossom is a soul's personal desire to find an outlet for expression."

"No matter how hard they try, they'll never create anything so perfectly beautiful as what plays out in my own imagination."

"Every brush stroke on the canvas, every dab of color introduced, the fine textures impressed in the paint—this accumulation of many small acts combines to shape a final work of art.  And so it is with life; each step, each deed, each brief choice builds gradually, day by day, to shape both character and destiny."

"Life demands much. Give more."

"If you feel like a nearly-drowned rat that’s been dragged through the mud, all twisted up inside your mother’s borrowed, prized quilt, having been tossed about by gale force winds that managed to entangle you in barbed wire one-thousand miles from your goal in the middle of a hot, barren nowhere void of any basic necessities―then congratulations! You’re no observer but an actual participant in the game of life! Stand up and keep living."

"I don't believe that the course of anyone's lifetime has ever been as unerring as that of the rising and setting sun, but I know many lives that have been just as inspiring."

"The power behind living a dream lies in either believing it's a dream or knowing it's not."

"Live your day and live it well. It's yours whether you want it or not."

"Life has moments that feel as if the sun has blackened to tar and the entire world turned to ice.  It feels as if Hades and his vile demons have risen from the depths of Tartarus solely for the purpose of banding to personally torture you, and that their genuine intent of mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish is tearing you to shreds.  Your heart weighs as heavily as leaden legs which you would drag yourself forward with if not for the quicksand that pulls you down inch by inch, paralyzing your will and threatening oblivion.  And all the while fire and brimstone pour from the sky, pelting only you.  Truly, that is what it feels like. But that feeling is a trial that won't last forever.  Never give up."

"There is strength in numbers, yes, but even more so in collective good will. For those endeavors are supported by mighty forces unseen."

"When you devalue ethics and morals by proclaiming that our attitude toward them should be casual or lenient, you can't be surprised by a rising generation who then behaves disrespectfully, treating life, people, and choices as if they possess little value or worth.  For whether or not that was the intention, society has taught them to believe thusly."

"A society built upon a foundation of vengeance is a society doomed to destroy itself."

"A mother is a child's first looking glass into the world."

"Our greatest duty to our children is to love them first.  Secondly, it is to teach them.  Not to frighten, force, or intimidate our children into submission, but to effectively teach them so that they have the knowledge and tools to govern themselves."

"Laughing in the face of danger doesn't negate the fear, it simply enables you to smile at it."

"To love is to accept a soul entirely, not wishing that the person was otherwise, nor hoping for change, nor clinging to some ideal past. To love is to cherish the individual standing before you presently―charms, quirks, and all. To love is to give someone a piece of your heart that you will never, ever reclaim."

"Though I may accumulate a great deal of riches in this world, it is only my wealth of knowledge, talents, and emotional bonds that I keep when I leave."

"Even the smallest tender mercy can bring peace when recognized and appreciated."

"Beauty exists, even in unlikely places. The key isn't to open your eyes but to open your heart."

"World peace, true love, and happily-ever-afters amount to wasted wishes, failed endeavors, and most precious dreams."