The last of the thirty-nines

Today is the last day I’ll be 39 years old.

I decided because today was my birthday eve that it would be a good idea to go to a cafe and write out some of my favourite quotes that have helped me through so far. This isn’t a usual activity that I do, but today, I really felt like I needed to do something to remember this day by.

I sat in a Lower Hutt cafe, took out a hand-made notepad a special friend gave me to celebrate my birthday, and sieved through the internet for some of my favourite quotes written by people who have inspired me.

It’s crazy that through utterances we humans have found ways to communicate meaning and symbolism to one another.

Through these utterances we have developed common sounds to help us share how we interpret our subjective lenses.

Quotes are really special to me, and I hope the below powerful utterances will help inspire you too.

“In the heaven we shall be birds flying side by side, and on earth we shall be twinned trunks flowering on the same branch.” – Chinese proverb

“I hope that you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories…water them with your blood and tears and your laughter til they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place, but to be a different person.” – Seneca

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” – Plato

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything. – Albert Einstein

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” – Helen Keller

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” – Henry Ford

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle

“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” – Lao Tzu

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison

“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends.” – J.K. Rowling

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali

“I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” – Mewtwo

“Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi.” / “With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.” – Māori proverb

“To have fear is to be human. This isn’t a good enough reason to not do something.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“Don’t puff up. Don’t shrink. Just stand your sacred ground.” – Brene Brown