1) Don’t do things in half measures
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
2) You have to put yourself out there
“You see, some things I can teach you. Some you learn from books. But there are things that, well, you have to see and feel.” ― Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
3) Dreaming big is nothing to be underestimated
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
4) Give people a chance
“Atticus, he was real nice.”
“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
5) Some people feel differently than others
“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
6) A reader lives a thousand lives
“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. She travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village.”― Roald Dahl, Matilda
7) Suffering can make you strong
“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.”― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
8) Don’t worry if you can’t get your words out
“The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are things you get ashamed of, because words make them smaller. When they were in your head they were limitless; but when they come out they seem to be no bigger than normal things. But that’s not all. The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried; they are clues that could guide your enemies to a prize they would love to steal. It’s hard and painful for you to talk about these things … and then people just look at you strangely. They haven’t understood what you’ve said at all, or why you almost cried while you were saying it.” ― Stephen King, The Body
9) Never compromise when it comes to who you are and what you feel
“Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don’t care who’s listening.” ― Allen Ginsberg
10) Learn from every experience
“I have to say that although it broke my heart, I was, and still am, glad I was there.” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief