"Do not let your fire go out,
spark by irreplaceable spark,
in the hopeless swamps
of the approximate, the not-quite,
the not-yet, the not-at-all.

Do not let the hero in your soul
perish in lonely frustration
for the life you deserved,
but have never been able to reach.

Check your road
and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won.
It exists, it is real, it is possible,
it is yours."

--Ayn Rand

"And the day came....
when the risk it took to remain
tight inside the bud
was more painful than the risk
it took to blossom."

-- Anais Nin