“A set of huge marble busts stared smugly down from on high: great merchants and financiers of Styrian history, by the look of them. Criminals made heroes by colossal success.”

“I know nothing of any phantom,' replied Aethelfrith. 'What sort of phantom is it presumed to be?''Why,' replied the merchant, 'it takes the form of a great giant of a bird. Men hereabouts call it King Raven.''Do they indeed?' wondered the friar, much intrigued. 'What does it look like - this giant bird?'The merchant stared at him in disbelief. 'By the rood, man! Are you dim? It looks like a thumping great raven.”

“If I must needs boast, I will boast of my sufferings." II Corinthians 11:30People boast about their wealth, their physical strength, their financial success, their educational achievements... but there are only a few people who can boast about their pains and sufferings. Those who are able to lay down their lives for a great mission are rare, but they are those who are able to transcend themselves and stand as great leaders and heroes in front of humanity. -Torkom Saraydarian”

“Jack London (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and other books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a huge financial success from writing. Source: Wikipedia”

“In the course of time, Michael Strogoff reached a high station in the Empire. But it is not the history of his success, but the history of his trials, which deserves to be related.”

“If you look at history, even recent history, you see that there is indeed progress. . . . Over time, the cycle is clearly, generally upwards. And it doesn't happen by laws of nature. And it doesn't happen by social laws. . . . It happens as a result of hard work by dedicated people who are willing to look at problems honestly, to look at them without illusions, and to go to work chipping away at them, with no guarantee of success — in fact, with a need for a rather high tolerance for failure along the way, and plenty of disappointments.”