Vive ut Vivas

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All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.

You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, and live like it's heaven on earth. Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'. Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living.

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to. Reality continues to ruin my life. Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not. There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring. The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting.

In other words: Live you silly bastard! What do you need? What do you want? Is it worth it? Probably not. Most of it is bullshit. Most of it does not mean a fucking thing. Can't tell the difference? Now you're getting somewhere. Or are you?

"Live that you may Live"

- Henry Ellis
- Anton Chekhov
- Buddha
- Dr. Seuss
- Marilyn Monroe
- William W. Purkey
- Oscar Wilde
- John Wayne
- John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller - Pamphlet
- Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- Lewis Carroll
- Jimi Hendrix
- Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
- Mother Teresa
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- André Gide
- Albert Einstein
- John Lennon
- Mae West
- Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Karl Wallenda