I am a collector of many things – books. dolls, hats and animals, to name a few – but one of my favorite things to acquire is a good quote, one that makes me pause to think or gives me a good laugh.

I like wise, thoughtful words that lift me up when I sense a bad case of the blues coming on; I need inspirational words on days when I feel creatively depleted.

Here are some of my personal favorite quotes. I hope you will enjoy them.

n No one can make you feel inferior without your consent – Eleanor Roosevelt

n Flowers grow out of dark moments – Corita Kent

n Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know. – William Saroyan

n This is the day which the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalms118:24

n Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than it is necessary? – J.M. Barrie

n A pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results. Bennett Cerf

n Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things. – R.L. Stevenson

n Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the souls and sings the tune without words and never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson

n Grant me the courage to never give up even when I think it is hopeless. – Chester Nimitz

n To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in suffering. – Victor Frankel