Loading ...
Here A Quote, There A Quote
Every once in a while I come across a quote that makes me stop and think. Really think.
I often wonder how much of it is the quote itself, and how much of it is the timing of the quote.
Either way, those “it” quotes often motivate me into action or simply remind me of something I might be too tired or weak to see at a particular moment. A few favorites have found their way into my office via a sign, a trinket box, a treasured card. A few have been shared by friends. And still others are just engraved in my thoughts, lurking, waiting for that moment when I need the pick-me-up.
Perhaps one of my favorite quotes at the moment was given to me by my best friend. It says…
Courage. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
I look at that quote a lot. Because, in an odd way, reading those words over and over gives me courage when I’m running low.
A different and more sentimental quote came from that same friend as part of a birthday gift. It’s on the top of a red box where I keep special writing memories (which, as of now, consists of… an email from said friend when my first book was picked up; a congratulations card; the handwritten sticky note to return “a Louise Leftwich with Malice Domestic’s” phone call; two of my favorite congratulations emails after my Agatha nom in 2006; the Worldwide Mystery mass market paperback version of my first book; my first fan letter; and a print-out of my “sold out” status with Worldwide). The quote on the top says…
“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”
~Charlotte’s Web
A great kick-in-the-butt quote came from another very special person at a time I needed to hear it most. It was something like this one…
The only people who never fail are those who never try.
~Ilka Chase
And then there’s the one that was like an unexpected gift of understanding from someone I’ve never met, yet has been a coach of sorts in learning how to handle a curveball. His words still bring a catch to my throat. Mainly because the timing is as poignant now as it was when it was said…
“There’s nothing wrong with a little violin playing between two people who know the same tune.”
Sigh.
Then there’s Scott, my walking off-the-cuff quote guy. You can’t get through a five minute conversation with this man without stopping and thinking–really thinking–multiple times. This particular wisdom-filled quote made me see something in a different light…
“It’s like on the airplane when they tell people traveling with small children to put their own oxygen on first. When you breathe easier, they’ll breathe easier.”
~Scott (a.k.a. the amazing quote guy)
Finally there’s the one I read in a store once. It was something about life, surfing, an ocean wave, and momentum. If anyone knows what I’m talking about, I could sure use those words right about now.
So how about you? What quote hangs in your office? Or your home? Or even your heart? What gives you a good swift kick when you need it most?
~Laura
*Oh, and for any writers out there today…
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
~Richard Bach
