Here are some of my favorite quotes arranged under the seven most important interest areas of the work I do:

Aging

“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” (Betty Friedan)

“The trouble is, when a number - your age - becomes your identity, you’ve given away your power to choose your future.” (Richard Leider)

“Aging isn’t about getting old it’s about LIVING … learning that you can age well, will actually help you age better … let’s start celebrating and living an engaged life, and stop punishing ourselves for not looking a certain way, and instead holding ourselves accountable for actually taking care of ourselves inside first, knowing the results on the exterior will be a shining side effect.” (Cameron Diaz)

“Aging happy and well, instead of sad and sick, is at least under some personal control. We have considerable control over our weight, our exercise, our education, and our abuse of cigarettes and alcohol. With hard work and/or therapy, our relationships with our spouses and our coping styles can be changed for the better. A successful old age may lie not so much in our stars and genes as in ourselves.” (George Vaillant)

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” (C. S. Lewis)

Forgiveness

“Without forgiveness life is governed by … an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” (Roberto Assagioli)

“You don’t forgive because someone else deserves it; you forgive because you deserve it. You deserve to be free from bitterness.” (Loren Cribbs)

“True forgiveness is liberating, because it frees us from the energetic attachments of the past.” (Sandra Francis)

“Forgiveness is a radical act of setting your soul free, and the person you blame, hate, fear or resent cannot help you with that. Only your heart holds the key.” (Anthony St. Maarten)

“Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefit to the one who forgives.” (Lawana Blackwell)

Grief

“Death ends a life, not a relationship. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.” (Mitch Albom)

“Grief is like the ocean. It comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” (Vicki Harrison)

“Our grief is as individual as our lives.” (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)

“Grief is a cruel kind of education. You learn how un-gentle mourning can be, how full of anger. You learn how glib condolences can feel. You learn how much grief is about language, the failure of language and the grasping for language.” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” (Thomas Campbell)

“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.” (Helen Keller)

“It seems to me, that if we love, we grieve. That’s the deal. That’s the pact. Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depth of our love and like love, grief is non-negotiable.” (Nick Cave)

“Grief is never something you get over. You don’t wake up one morning and say, ‘I’ve conquered that; now I’m moving on.’ It’s something that walks beside you every day. And if you can learn how to manage it and honor the person that you miss, you can take something that is incredibly sad and have some form of positivity.” (Terri Irwin)

“We bereaved are not alone. We belong to the largest company in all the world - the company of those who have known suffering.” (Helen Keller)

Life/Living

“It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in your life you will have been all of these.” (George Washington Carver)

“We are all damaged. We have been hurt. We have all had to learn painful lessons. We are all recovering from some mistake, loss, betrayal, abuse, injustice or misfortune. All of life is a process of recovery that never ends. We eac must find ways to accept and move through the pain and to pick ourselves back up. For each pang of grief, depression, doubt or despair there is an inverse toward renewal coming to you in time. Each tragedy is an announcement that some good will indeed come in time. Be patient with yourself.” (Bryant McGill)

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” (John

Relationships

“Truth is, I’ll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are by nature too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism and a great deal of candor.” (Tom Hanks)

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” (Bryant McGill)

“The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was, nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now.” (Anne Morrow Lindbergh)

“The more connections you and your lover make, not just between your bodies, but between your minds, your hearts, and your souls, the more you will strengthen the fabric of your relationship, and the more real moments you will experience together.” (Barbara De Angelis)

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.” (John Lennon)

Sexuality

“What freedom men and women could have, were they not constantly tricked and trapped and enslaved and tortured by their sexuality.” (John Steinbeck)

“Yes, sex is troublesome and beautiful. And only when we drop our expectations, and know that we’ll have moments of great sex and moments when our sexuality confounds, pains, or infuriates us, will we be liberated to enjoy it in a way that’s true to ourselves.” (Alexandra Katehakis)

“Sexuality is one of the ways that we become enlightened, actually, because it leads us to self-knowledge.” (Alice Walker)

“It is difficult for people across the world to be comfortable with their sexuality. We need more education and awareness.” (James Haskell)

Shame

“Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.” (Berne Brown)

“Guilt is just as powerful, but its influence is positive, while shame’s is destructive. Shame erodes our courage and fuels disengagement.” (Brene Brown)

“At my most unlovable and ungraceful, I’ve felt so much shame. What would be so great in those times is to have someone embrace you. That’s when you need it the most.” (Taylor Russell)

“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” (Brene Brown)

“We live in a world where most people still subscribe to the belief that shame is a good tool for keeping people in line. Not only is this wrong, but it is dangerous.” Brene Brown)

“Reproach is shame, blame, disgrace, disapproval and a disrespect toward yourself. When you’re under reproach, your behavior shows it.” (Joyce Meyer)

“Those who feel lovable, who love, and who experience belonging simply believe they are worthy of love and belonging.” (Brene Brown)