When Rachel first hung a chalkboard in our kitchen, it quickly became my favorite canvas. Before long, I took on the task of updating it, sharing a new quote at the start of each week. Each message reflects a moment in time—what we've recently experienced or what's just around the corner for our family. This virtual chalkboard is a collection of those quotes, capturing the essence of our journey together.
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Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.
— Theodore Roosevelt from Lincoln and Free Speech 1918 -
A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.
— Tim Cahill -
Nobody's free until everybody's free.
— Fannie Lou Hamer from Speech at the founding of the National Women's Political Caucus 1971 -
It was June, and the world smelled of roses.
— Maud Hart Lovelace from Betsy-Tacy and Tib 1941 -
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
— Joseph Campbell from The Power of Myth 1988 -
Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten.
— Lilo from Lilo & Stitch 2002 -
No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.
— Brad Meltzer from The Inner Circle 2011 -
My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
— Erma Bombeck -
A person never forgets the landscape of their childhood.
— Kate Morton from The Lake House 2015 -
Nothing ever seems impossible in spring, you know.
— L.M. Montgomery from Anne of Ingleside 1939 -
Making the decision to have a child—it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
— Elizabeth Stone from A Boy I Once Knew: What a Teacher Learned from Her Student 2002 -
It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.
— Rainer Maria Rilke from Letters on Life 2006 -
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
— Anne Bradstreet from Meditations Divine and Moral 1655 -
You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe Daylight Saving Time.
— Dave Barry from 25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years 1998 -
Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.
— Alice Walker from The Color Purple 1982 -
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
— Kaklil Gibran from The Prophet 1923 -
The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
— Madeleine L'Engle from Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art 1980 -
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
— Langston Hughes from The World Tomorrow 1922 -
While it is February, one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.
— Patience Strong from The Glory of the Garden 1947 -
Do not lose heart. We were made for these times.
— Clarissa Pinkola Estés from We Were Made for These Times 2020 -
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
— Martin Luther King Jr. from Letter from Birmingham Jail 1963 -
Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
— Sanford Meisner from Sanford Meisner on Acting 1987 -
Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come.
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson from Robin Hood and Maid Marian 1892 -
Cheers to a gracious New Year. May we uphold the fullness of God's grace, goodness, and goodwill.
— Lailah Gifty Akita from Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind 2015 -
Let there be peace on earth, and it begin with me!
— Jill Jackson-Miller (lyrics) and Sy Miller (music) from Let There Be Peace on Earth 1955 -
Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light.
— Judy Garland from Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 1947 -
Life has to end. Love doesn't.
— Mitch Albom from The Five People You Meet in Heaven 2003 -
When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I shall know that I am growing old.
— Lady Bird Johnson -
Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.
— Nigel Hamilton -
When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep Swimming!
— Dory from Finding Nemo 2003 -
Every mile is two in the winter.
— George Herbert from Outlandish Proverbs 1640 -
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.
— Franklin D. Roosevelt from Address at the University of Pennsylvania 1940 -
What's your favorite scary movie?
— Ghostface from Scream 1996 -
I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
— L.M. Montgomery from Anne of Green Gables 1908 -
It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.
— Sarah Addison Allen from First Frost 2015 -
Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
— William Shakespeare from Macbeth 1623 -
My household is, in a nice way, very busy.
— Ann Brashares -
When I asked God for strength, He gave me difficult situations to face.
— Swami Vivekananda -
And then the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.
— Raquel Franco -
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
— Rumi -
School bells are ringing loud and clear; vacation's over, school is here.
— Winifred C. Marshall -
Transitions are almost always signs of growth, but they can bring feelings of loss. To get somewhere new, we may have to leave somewhere else behind.
— Fred Rogers from You Are Special 1995 -
Of all the paths you take in life, make some lead to the lake.
— Anonymous -
I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days.
— Henry David Thoreau from Walden 1854 -
I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
— Coleman Cox from Listen to This 1922 -
It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.
— Nicholas Sparks -
Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.
— Russell Baker -
Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.
— Abraham Lincoln from Letter to Henry L. Pierce and Others 1859 -
Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.
— Seneca -
Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond.
— Hunter S. Thompson from Hey Rube: 'Back in the day …' 2003 -
I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.
— L.M. Montgomery from Anne of the Island 1915 -
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.
— Eleanor Roosevelt from You Learn by Living 1961 -
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
— Dr. Seuss from Oh, the Places You’ll Go! 1990 -
Starting strong is good. Finishing strong is epic.
— Robin Sharma -
Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun.
— Khalil Gibran -
Collect Moments, Not Things.
— Anonymous -
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.
— Michael Altshuler -
Spring is the time of plans and projects.
— Leo Tolstoy from Anna Karenina 1878 -
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
— Ruth Bader Ginsburg from Radcliffe Medal acceptance speech 2015 -
Never feel sorry for raising dragon slayers in a time when there are actual dragons.
— Unknown -
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
— Tony Robbins from Awaken the Giant Within 1991 -
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
— Barack Obama from Super Tuesday victory speech, Chicago 2008 -
February is an uncertain month, filled with the flavor of anticipation.
— Gladys Taber -
I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
— Maya Angelou from Letter to My Daughter 2008 -
It is always the right time to do the right thing.
— Martin Luther King Jr. from Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution (Oberlin College commencement address) 1965 -
Feeling a little blue in January is normal.
— Marilu Henner -
Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.
— Winston Churchill -
Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.
— Sam Levenson from In One Era and Out the Other 1973 -
Chill December brings the sleet, Blazing fire and Christmas Treat.
— Sara Coleridge from Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children ("The Months") 1834 -
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
— Mary Ellen Chase -
Health is not valued till sickness comes.
— Thomas Fuller from Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern 1732 -
Little by little, one travels far
— J.R.R. Tolkien -
I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.
— Alain Gerbault -
Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.
— Vladimir Nabokov -
In November you begin to know how long the winter will be.
— Martha Gellhorn from The Heart of Another ("November Afternoon") 1941 -
What's your favorite scary movie?
— Ghostface from Scream 1996 -
Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.
— Napoleon Hill -
How bravely Autumn paints upon the sky the gorgeous fame of summer which is fled!
— Thomas Hood from The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies, Hero and Leander, Lycus the Centaur and Other Poems 1827 -
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.
— Vladimir Horowitz -
Give the one you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.
— The Dalai Lama from The Art of Happiness 1998 -
Autumn Mornings sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year's end and day's beginning.
— Terri Guillemets -
The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.
— George R. R. Martin from A Game of Thrones 1996 -
Start where you are. Use what You have. Do what you Can.
— Arthur Ashe -
Home is where one starts from.
— T.S. Eliot from Four Quartets: "East Coker" 1940 -
But the thing about thunderstorms is that there is a sense of peace When once the storm is over.
— Tabitha Kelly -
Not many people have had as much bad luck as I have, but not many people have had as much good luck, either.
— Tig Notaro from "Very Funny" (Elle magazine profile) 2013 -
With each new day, we discover some thing extraordinary at summer camp.
— Unknown -
Where could one settle more pleasantly than in one's home?
— Cicero -
Let freedom never perish in your hands.
— Joseph Addison -
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.
— Unknown from Select Proverbs of All Nations 1824 -
It's summer and time for wandering...
— Kellie Elmore from Magic in the Backyard 2012 -
It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn s0 many things.
— Nicholas Sparks -
Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.
— Sam Keen -
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
— Dr. Seuss from Oh, the Places You'll Go! 1990 -
Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
— Albert Camus -
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
— Abraham Lincoln -
It's not about who you are today, it's about who you want to become and the price you are willing to pay to get there.
— Tom Bilyeu -
You will never look back on life and think, "I spent too much time with my kids."
— Unknown -
When in doubt, overdress.
— Vivienne Westwood -
April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.
— William Shakespeare -
Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live in.
— Jim Rohn -
For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.
— Virginia Woolf from A Room of One's Own 1929 -
While it is February, one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.
— Patience Strong from The Glory of the Garden 1947 -
And if the stars should ever die, we'll make our own light, you and I.
— John Mark Green -
Start where you are, with what you have. Make Something of it and never be satisfied.
— George Washington Carver -
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
— Abraham Lincoln -
Some days are like that. Even in Australia.
— Judith Viorst from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 1972 -
Darkness Cannot drive Out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate Cannot drive out hate. Only LOVE can do that.
— Martin Luther King Jr. from Strength to Love 1963 -
And now welcome the new year. Full of of things that have never been.
— Rainer Marie Rilke from Letters to a Young Poet 1929 -
A holiday is on opportunity to journey Within.
— Prabhas -
December is a time to reflect on the blessings of the past year and to embrace the opportunities of the coming one.
— Oprah Winfrey -
Today or any day that phone may ring and bring good news.
— Ethel Waters -
When I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around.
— Willie Nelson -
Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.
— Chad Sugg from Monsters Under Your Head 2010 -
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
— Alan Watts from The Wisdom of Insecurity 1951 -
Always thrown spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary buy your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can.
— Sally Owen, Practical Magic from Practical Magic 1998 -
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
— Albert Camus from Return to Tipasa (in "Summer") 1954 -
Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past, And neither fear, nor wish the approaches of the last.
— Abraham Cowley -
If there ever comes a day we can't be together - hold me in your heart I'll Stay there forever!
— Winnie -
No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.
— Jewish Proverb