“Every person from your past lives as a shadow in your mind. Good or bad, they all helped you write the story of your life, and shaped the person you are today.”

“You can know all about a person from the things they collect, the books on their shelves, the chairs in their parlor. … Let me into your house; I could write your life story.”

“One of the greatest feelings in life is the conviction that you have lived the life you wanted to live-with the rough and the smooth, the good and the bad-but yours, shaped by your own choices, and not someone else's.”

“Your best friend is the person who not only knows all the important stories and events in your life, but has lived through them with you. Your best friend isn't the person you call when you are in jail; mostly likely, she is sitting in the cell beside you.”

“I wondered if the person who really loves you is the person who knows all your stories, the person who WANTS to know all your stories.”

“Pain makes you stronger. Tears make you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser. Be grateful for your past because it helped shape who you are. And thank the past for a better future. Live for today, learn from yesterday, and hope for tomorrow. Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”