Inspirational Quotes
Written: July 05, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Natasha L Scragg
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“Fall seven times and stand up eight.” — old proverb
“If the wind will not serve, take the oars.” — Latin proverb
“Life is 10 percent what happens to me
and 90 percent of how I react to it.” — Charles Swindoll
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says,
‘I’m possible!’ ” — Audrey Hepburn
“You can never cross the ocean until
you dare to lose sight of the shore.” — Christopher Columbus
Lanterns Borrowed from the Wise
There are evenings when courage burns low,
when doubt arrives like winter snow;
then borrowed words begin to gleam,
rekindling hope where fears scream.
We hear the ancient counsel call:
"Fall seven times and stand up eight."
The heart obeys that quiet fate;
its fractured rhythm learns once more
to rise like tides against the shore.
When tempests gather, fierce and wild,
and every prayer seems unreconciled,
the old Latin voice becomes our guide:
"If the wind will not serve, take the oars."
So hands discover hidden might,
and rowing turns the dark to light;
the sea may test each fragile breath,
yet purpose rows beyond its depth.
Then comes a gentler reckoning:
"Life is 10 percent what happens to me
and 90 percent of how I react to it."
The numbers bloom beyond the page;
they measure neither years nor age,
but how the soul, though bruised and worn,
chooses hope instead of scorn.
And when the summit hides in cloud,
its silence heavy, cold, and proud,
another voice begins to smile:
"Nothing is impossible,
the word itself says, 'I'm possible!'"
The syllables unlock the sky;
they teach reluctant wings to fly.
Across the waves another calls:
"You can never cross the ocean
until you dare to lose sight of the shore."
The beach fades, but faith grows,
Tomorrow awaits with full glows.
Let these proverbs glow sweetly,
Like constellations, we line up neatly.
Not printed pages of artifacts,
But living stars for every fact.
And I will leave one light with you:
Seek the quiet inside when the dark winds blow,
For the deepest of rivers are silent below.
Do not anchor your heart to the shadows you pass;
Write your fears in sand, write your triumphs in glass.
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