To ask what the most inspirational book/person/thing/quote etc was in your life?

[Fishface77]

My most inspirational quote actually came from mumsnet.
Not my circus not my monkeys.
It has stopped my over involvement in things which were affecting my life.

This is your real life it is not a rehearsal.
always reminds me that time is precious and every moment counts.

'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'. The older I've got, the more I have found this to be true. Not sure it's very inspirational though!

No snowflake in an avalanche feels responsible.
Made me feel more accountable for small decisions.

The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it- from Peter Pan!

Repeating this to myself in moments of self doubt has helped me massively

Prepare for be worst, hope for the best. Life motto

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should

This too shall pass

"Every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant" Doctor Who Vincent and the Doctor

"There is also love in the world"

Good for when everything seems dark ...

'If you want to fly you gotta let go of the shit that weighs you down'- I think it's by Toni Morrison.

This one. Either Bill Gates or Tony Robbins depending on where you see it.

"it's never to late to be the person you might of been"

"It's never to late to become the person you might of been"

Don't let your troubles find a home.

I always think of Van Gogh's:

'If you hear a voice with you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.'

I use the premise of it for everything. Every time I think I can't possibly do something it pushes me on.

That and 'Still I Rise' (Maya Angelou) give me strength.

Dr Seuss - 'unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not' - reminds me that every little thing counts ☺️
& another one, Cinderella this time - 'have courage and be kind'
My 3 yo recites this a lot too, which makes me very proud!

My sister used to recite something from school, which I've never been able to find but always thought more useful than anything I was taught on the subject, and starts "Confidence is what you need Within the world today......" Anyone able to continue please?

From The Hours by Michael Cunningham - it's very moving to me, and reminds me to be present and appreciate happiness while it's happening, not be thinking about what comes next or what could be better:

"It had seemed like the beginning of happiness, and Clarissa is still sometimes shocked, more than thirty years later to realize that it was happiness; that the entire experience lay in a kiss and a walk. The anticipation of dinner and a book. [...] There is still that singular perfection, and it's perfect in part because it seemed, at the time, so clearly to promise more. Now she knows: That was the moment, right then. There has been no other."

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language, but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of a ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest , I will not equivocate, I will not excuse. I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard!"

I always come back to this.

@Fishface77 what delights me about this post is the fact that your inspirational quote is a direct translation of an old Polish saying (Nie moje małpy, nie mój cyrk) that got adopted into English after us Poles started using it here and you Brits adopted it with gusto.

My fave quote of all time comes from the incomparable The Wire

"Life Jimmy. You know what that is? It's the shit that happens when you wait for moments that never come"

It reminds me to be present and grateful

Marking place

Lots of lovely quotes.
Affection I thought it had polish origins!
Miracle I love that quote it makes me tear up every time I hear it!

Not sure if it's inspirational but I love this quote from Khalil Gibran's 'The Prophet's, referring to marriage:

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Reminds me we both need our space and that's ok.

Should say 'The Prophet'

On here recently: there's no such thing as karma. Very freeing. We try to look for reasons in everything. Sometimes there isn't one.