i'd settle for a slow down.

If we had any nerve at all, If we had any real balls as a society, or whatever you need, whatever quality you need, real character, we would make an effort to really address the wrongs in this society, righteously. I wish you could turn off the questions, turn off the voices, turn off all sound. Learn to close out the ugliness, close out the filthiness, close out all light. Long to cast away yesterday, cast away memory, cast away all jeapordy. Pray you could somehow stop uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

When you see things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When you see things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. Therefore, act without doing, and teach without saying. Things arise; let them come. Things disappear; let them go. Have, but don't posess. Act, but don't expect. When your work is done, forget it. That is why it will last forever.

You have to learn the rules of the game, then play it better than everyone else.

It does not count if you believe in yourself when it's easy to believe in yourself. It does not count if you believe the world can be a better place when the future looks bright. It does not count if you think you're going to make it when the finish line is right in front of you. It counts when it's hard to believe in yourself, when it looks like the world's going to end, and you've still got a long way to go. That's when it counts. That's when it matters the most.

In life we do things. Some we wish we had never done, some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads. But they all make us who we are. Maybe we are meant to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift. Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're going to deal with next. You learn to take life as it comes at you, to make each day count. You can find good in anybody. If you give them a chance, benefit of a doubt, sometimes people disappoint you, sometimes they surprise you, but you never really get to know them until you listen to what's in their heart. Why give people the satisfaction of letting them get the best of you, when you clearly know that they envy and want to be you. You should feel bad that they are pathetic to want to live their lives through your downfall. People are too weak to follow their own dreams and will find every way possible to try and discourage yours. It's a natural thing. Don't curse it; bless it, because these pathetic losers encourage my conceit.

You only see what I choose to show you.

The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it's only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. Life is the ability to feel so happy, you think your insides are going to explode. It's being so upset or disappointed, you feel as if your stomach just dropped ten feet out of place. It's running so hard, you can barely breathe. It's the feeling of panic when you know you've been caught doing something wrong. It's having that sudden rush before you kiss someone you care about. It's opening your eyes and feeling them sting because you spent the whole night crying. It's letting people go because new ones come in, and all the while realizing that life doesn't have a purpose unless you let it.


People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

It is what it is. Unless it isn't.

The early bird catches the worm; a stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we haven't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to 'seize the day'. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore, until we finally understand for ourselves like Benjamin Franklin meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst most intractable mistake beats the hell out of never trying.


I want to laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayel of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

love.

Don't settle for anything less than someone who loves you. Don't love when you're lonely, love when you're ready. Don't think that it happens all the time, either. Love isn't the small scene of romance you're exposed to as a teenager. It's far different, far more real. Real love is hard to come by, but it comes. Maybe not for a while, but it shows up at some point. All of us are loved, but sometimes that person you want isn't in your life yet. Don't worry. They will be. Just stop waiting for it.

honesty.

I’m not always as confident as I seem. There are many nights and many days when all I want is to be held. I love being held. Always. Sometimes I don’t want to talk about what is bothering me. Sometimes I just want a hug. Someone who will let me cry. I don’t like when people run from their true feelings because it doesn’t do anyone any good. I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I am not naive. I know what it feels like to be completely broken and I am all too familiar with what it means to be hurt. I know what it’s like to see something funny and not laugh. I’ve been taken advantage of, used, and abused. My feelings have been blatantly disregarded. But I still believe that all people are good at heart. And my trust in people has not diminished. To be completely honest, I hope it never does. Ever.

take risks.

the best things in life don't happen unless you take risks. risk yourself and throw your heart out onto the table. be who you are and hope people accept you. if they don't, too bad. always be real, never be fake. smile when you're happy, cry when you're sad. never hold emotions inside. let yourself risk getting hurt. let yourself try something new. follow your heart and do what you feel is right, not what other people tell you to do. fall in love, take a chance. hope the other person feels the same. love is a risk. it could bring either pleasure or pain, sometimes both. life is a gamble. you never know what it'll bring. live in the moment and don't dwell on the past. find the good in everybody. think positive, do positive. break the rules and take the chance of getting caught.

I see lots of things, except your point.

I'm not the silly romantic you think. I don't want the heavens or shooting stars. I don't want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want a steady hand. A kind soul. I want to fall asleep, and wake, knowing my heart is safe. I want to love and be loved. I'm not the girl next door or your average teenage slut. There's enough of those already.

land of make believe.

Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.

There comes a point in life where you either accept whatever you’re doing and just exist, or stop talking about what you used to be and do something completely different. You have only one life to do whatever you want with. In one hundred years no one will remember the stupid mistakes you made, so make a fool of yourself while you still have the chance because if you spend all your life trying to be the coolest kid around you will never be happy with yourself. I've learned that no matter how much i care, some people are just assholes. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it. I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others; they are more screwed up than you think. I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon, and all the less important ones just never go away. I've changed. Maybe things do happen for a reason, maybe they don't. But no matter what, they still happen. That's what we need to remember. I learned to stop analyzing things, to just let them happen. And if I get hurt, or if something bad happens, then it happens. There's nothing I can do to change that. I've learned to go with my gut, and that it's okay to make mistakes because the ones that matter won't care. I've learned that love really is as great as they say it is. I've learned that your friends can save you from your worst enemy: yourself. And most importantly, I've learned that today is all we have.

get inspiration where no one else will look for it.

I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing. I learned that things don't always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. And I've learned that there are things that go wrong that don't always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. I've learned that some broken things stay broken, and I've learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you.

don't follow the crowd, stay true to yourself.

Figure out who you are separate from your family and the man you’re in a relationship with. Find who you are in this world and what you need to feel good alone. I think that’s the most important thing in life. Find a sense of self, because with that, you can do anything.

the only magic i still believe in is love.

be yourself. everyone else is already taken.

You want to know what living life to the fullest actually is? It's waking up on monday morning with no complaints. It's knowing you always deserve to laugh. It's doing what feel right no matter what. It's doing what you want to, no matter how stupid you look. It's about being yourself, because no one can tell you you're doing it wrong. I want to create beautiful things. I want to change someone's life. No, I want to change many lives. I want to know that because of something I did, someone was deeply affected, in a good way. I want to know what I'm capable of. Most girls say they want a fairy tale, but not me. That's not really what I want. I want someone who will make fun of me and laugh at my jokes even if they aren't funny. Someone who will wrestle with me and not let me win just because I'm a girl. Yeah, riding off into the sunset on a white horse would be nice but playing thumb-war with someone who cares about you just as much as you care about them seems so much better. I love the feeling after a good run away from trouble. Or the feeling when my favorite song is on full blast in the car. I like traveling to nowhere, getting lost, and then the best part, being found. I like being held by someone who means a lot to me, especially when I haven't seen them in awhile. We always complain there isn't enough time. Or that these moments never come around enough. Thats true. It's true that we never stop growing old, and we mature faster than we'd like. But time is the essence of life, and it brings change and surprise. I like watching the people I care for get older, change, become who they're suppose to be. Sometimes we all wish to go back, to repeat a moment, or pause it forever. Even just hit replay. But we need change, even when we don't want it. The cards are placed and time brings us closer to our destination. All the while as we travel through, the things we love doing, the people we share our life with, that's the destiny. We're not suppose to end up anywhere, we're suppose to make the best of this journey. Because no one makes it out alive.

The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, hate too often, and love too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.