Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A friend is one before whom I may think aloud."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, philosopher and poet

Voltaire

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

- Voltaire, writer and philosopher

Cicero

"A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation."

- Cicero, ancient Roman orator, politician and author

Aesop

"United we stand, divided we fall."

- Aesop, Greek slave and fable author

Eleanor Roosevelt

"If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if they betray you twice, it’s your fault."

- Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat and reformer

Ingrid Michaelson

"All we can do is keep breathing"

- Ingrid Michaelson, 'Keep Breathing'

Friedrich Nietzsche

"Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one."

- Friedrich Nietzsche, scholar, philosopher and developmental critic

Confucius

"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it."

- Confucius, philosopher and social activist

William Shakespeare

"Be great in act, as you have been in thought."

- William Shakespeare, playwright and poet

Anne-Sophie Swetchine

"To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others."

- Anne-Sophie Swetchine, mystic

George MacDonald

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."

- George MacDonald, author, poet and Christian minister

William James

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

- William James, psychologist and philosopher

Tom Peters

"If you're not confused, you're not paying attention."

- Tom Peters, American writer, specialising in business management

Aeschylus

"Wisdom comes alone through suffering"

- Aeschylus, Greek playwright

Aristotle

"Hope is a waking dream"

- Aristotle, philosopher

Theodore Roosevelt

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."

- Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the USA

Shout Out Louds

"I guess we never know what to become"

- Shout Out Louds, 'I Wish I Was Dead, Pt. 2'

Rollo May

"Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair."

– Rollo May, psychologist

Sydney J. Harris

"When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"

- Sydney J. Harris, journalist

Don McLean

"And in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed. But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken."

- Don McLean, "American Pie"

Kahlil Gibran

"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof."

- Kahlil Gibran, artist, poet, writer

Ralph Blum

"Nothing is predestined. The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings."

- Ralph Blum, author

Agatha Christie

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing,"

- Agatha Christie, author, playwright

Erica Jong

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."

- Erica Jong, author

Mahatma Ghandi

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

- Mahatma Gandhi, activist, political and spiritual leader

Elizabeth George Speare

"The answer is in thy heart. Thee can always hear it, if thee listens for it."

- Elizabeth George Speare, author

Andy Warhol

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

- Andy Warhol, artist

Kurt Cobain

"Wanting to be someone you're not is a waste of the person you are."

- Kurt Cobain, musician

Christian Morgenstern

"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

- Christian Morgenstern, author and poet

William M. Thackeray

"To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best."

- William M. Thackeray, author