“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” “Do what you need to and enjoy life as it happens.” —John Scalzi “There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” —Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.”
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring “Only connect.” —E.M. Forester, Howard’s End “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” —Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” —Anne Frank
“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” —Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire “[N]ever do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.” —Charles Dickens, David Copperfield “Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know.” —James Baldwin
“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.” —Herman Melville, Moby Dick “Change requires intent and effort. It really is that simple.” —Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” —John Steinbeck, East of Eden “Don’t take life too seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit.” —Colleen Hoover, Slammed
“You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.” —Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting “Living simply makes loving simple.” —bell hooks “There is light in darkness, you just have to find it.” —bell hooks “Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now.” —Audre Lorde
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” —Victor Hugo, Les Misérables “No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” —Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own “We accept the love we think we deserve.” —Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower “how you love yourself/is how you teach others/to love you” —Rupi Kaur, Milk & Honey Looking for more? Check out these must read books about happiness, these 100 happy bookish feelings, and these poems about life.