By Harry Anderson

Hopefully, these quotations will inspire you to shine brighter, believe in yourself, and better understand the world around us. If only just a bit better.

Vanessa, 28 years old.  Vladimir Pustovit

My favourite quotation is by Mae West: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” 

Mae West was an English movie star who was known for her lust for life. This quote tells me to remember to live each day of my life as if I would not be here tomorrow. If you live each day like this, your life will be great. When you get to be older you will be able to think back about your life and be satisfied. Not only that, but you will be happy about the choices that you made along the way, even if they seemed wrong at the time. I try not to think too much about the future myself. The idea of growing older doesn’t appeal to me much. I guess like many other people, I’m afraid of growing old. The only thing that is good about growing old, in my eyes, is that you’ll have lots of interesting memories. I’m going to make sure I’ll have those.

*

Matt, 35 years old David Goehring

I really like this quote: “All that is gold does not glitter…” by J.R.R. Tolkien

The famous writer Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as The Hobbit. My favourite quotation is actually the opening line of one of his poems with the same title. It means that everything that is good may not always look attractive. Or those who are kind may not always seem nice when you first meet them. Basically, Tolkien’s quote is another way of phrasing the English proverb, “Do not judge a book by its cover.” If you continue reading that same poem, you learn that this phrase is akin (= similar) to other imagery in the poem that talks about the world changing.

Why do I like this quotation? There have been a few instances in my life when things were not as they seemed. My wife, for example, didn’t seem so special to me when I first met her. In fact I preferred another girl that I met at the same party. But as I dated that girl, I learned that she was arrogant and vain, and not very bright either. I started dating the woman who would be my future wife, and I’ve never looked back.

*

Amy, 69 years old Liz West

A quotation I admire is: “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” It’s by Gordon A. Eadie.

The above quote is sometimes credited to Malcolm X, Alexander Hamilton, and other celebrities. However, the first time this quote was printed was in an article written by Dr. Gordon A. Eadie. Here, Dr. Eadie is trying to tell us to stand up for what we believe. It is better to have some definite beliefs that we hold dear than to let others fool us into believing things that are silly. If you do not hold onto your beliefs and do what you feel is right, you can make yourself unhappy. I try to remember this when people, even friends, challenge me to change my political or religious views. Although I love discussing all kinds of issues, I will defend my principles. I wasn’t always so principled or strong when I was younger, but I learned the hard way.

What’s your favourite quotation? Drop me a line in the comments or send an email, to jackie-s@013.net.