It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even the darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances for turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don’t leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.

― Alan Alda

I have said before that I do not know what the most important lesson is that I will ever teach my children, Cate and Emma Claire and Jack. I do know that when they are older and telling their own children about their grandmother, they will be able to say that she stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way — and it surely has not — she adjusted her sails.

(Source: prettythingscleverwords)

In honor of this week being National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, we’d like to share this video of several young women on the path to healing.

(Source: hey-unloving-i-will-love-you)

“Silhouette with Matches” - by Caleb Charland

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” — Harriet Tubman

Huang Guofu lost his arms in an electrical accident at the age of four, but never became discouraged. Instead, he pursued his dreams by painting with his feet.