Promise yourself...

Promise yourself,
* To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
* To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
* To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
* To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
* To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
* To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
* To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
* To wear a cheerful countenance at all timed and give every living creature you meet a smile.
* To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticise others.
* To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
* To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.
* To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

— Your Forces and How to Use Them by Christian D. Larson

Nelson Mandela on courage

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

~ Nelson Mandela (born 18 July 1918)

Helen Keller on happiness and security

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.

~ Helen Keller (27 June 1880 – 1 June 1968)