Inspirational Quotes

I have been thinking about memorable quotes that have inspired me, rejuvenated me, and motivated me to become more. Each of these have their own story, many of which are very personal and not something I would mention on my blog. However, I am posting them hoping that those out there reading can find your own inspiration and story in these simple yet profound words.

But sometimes our expectations sell us short. Sometimes the expected simply pales in comparison to the unexpected. You've got to wonder why we cling to our expectations. Because the expected is just what keeps us steady. Standing. Still. The expected is just the beginning. The unexpected is what changes our lives.

Nothing in the world is accomplished without passion.
~David McCullough at a BYU Forum

There was this law of life, both so cruel and so just, that demanded one must grow or else pay more for staying the same.
~Norman Mailer

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
~Albert Camus

We are born believing.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's never too late to be who you might have been.
~George Eliot

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.
~Goethe

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.
~Vernon Law

To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness?
~Thackeray

Adversity has a way of challenging all of us, sooner or later. How we collectively bear up to the pressures of unexpected tragedy, how we care for and honor those who suffer loss, how we hold on to our values despite the seductive lure of simple, quick and easy solutions to the complex problems we face — how we deal with such things defines us forever.
~Gen. John P. Abizaid of the Army, former commander of the United States Central Command