Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

"I stumble and fall. I weep and struggle to rise. My mom feels it all."

"What is this thing of intangible substance that wreaks consequential havoc on our lives? What is this sensitive thread that runs through heart and mind, and when given the slightest tremor grasps hold of all sanity, dragging the afflicted down to insufferable depths or flinging him weightless to euphoric heights? What is this magic we would deem imagination, fantasy, or pretend if not for the evidence of power manifest by human consequences? Effortlessly controlling us, it affects the infected in an instant. It takes but one word, one thought, one act to become immersed. To stop it is hopeless. To stifle it, demanding. To think to master it is both improbable and pretentious. What is this invisible hand that blinds our eyes and reigns hearts with a string? It is nature's drug and poison we call emotion."

"Helpful is happy. Selfish is sad.(It's not uncommon to confuse the two.)"

"You cannot appreciate what you have never experienced. Sadly, full appreciation tends to come only after the experience is past."

"We try so hard to instruct our children in all the right things―teaching good from bad, explaining choices and consequences―when in reality most lessons are learned through observation and experience. Perhaps we'd be better off training our youth to be highly observant."

"Determined, I riseand face the dawn with resolve. This time I will win."

"The sweetest melody that playson starry nights and wintry days,most soothing to my listening earsand calming to beleaguering fears,I call a symphony on air―the song of sweet, still silence rare."

"You cannot fully understand a person's need until you have endured the same need. As hard as you may try to predict and comprehend their situation and suffering, I guarantee you'll fall short until you've been there."

"Fear is the devil's most powerful tool because he can't always convince a good man to do wrong, but he can paralyze his will with fright, keeping a good man from doing what is right. It eventually results in the same end."

"The sun, rising and setting in splendid colors, never grows tired of its admirers―much like a lady, aglow with grace, never grows tired of chivalrous acts or pretty flowers."

"It is darkness that reveals the brightest stars and most ardent wishes."

"It's advice, not a commandment. Don't swallow it whole until you're absolutely sure you've been given good, healthy advice."

"It is a greater triumph for the fearful soul who tries and fails than for the fearless who succeed."

"Sometimes the difference between success and failure is simply the degree to which you crave one over the other."

"A sincere and warmly-expressed apology can produce the same effects as morphine on a suffering soul."

"Believing in yourself means more than simply believing in your own ultimate success; it means believing you will survive failures, disappointments, rejections, and criticism but still persist."

"This is me today, but take heed; it is not the same me as yesterday, and it will not be the same me tomorrow."

"Maybe not here and now, but somewhere, someday."

"Your problem is in thinking the sky's the limit. Why set limits?"

"A little here and a little there will always accumulate, so why be surprised when steady, small steps take you to great places?"