"MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES FOR TEENS"
SUBMITTED BY TEENS
"Life knocks a man down
And he gets up and it knocks him down again.
What's he to do when he gets knocked down?
Why take it for his share and go on!"
From 'The Yearling' by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - 1939
--- Sent in by E.R., Age 18 --- Ohio
"If you have a million friends it's not enough.
But if you have one enemy it's too much."
From my father's friend --- Sent in by Theresa, Age 14 --- Ohio
"Friendship is delicate as a glass,
Once broken it can be fixed
But there will always be cracks."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Emily K., Age 14 --- Georgia
"Gotta keep going,
Gotta keep fighting.
Too much time wasted to look back and cry
There's always a tomorrow, always a smile."
Copyright © 2000 Sarah Mills
"Time is not wasted when you are with someone you love."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Logan B., Age 16 --- Michigan
"If you take little and easy steps you will not learn much nor grow,
But if you take harder and more challenging steps,
You will learn more and grow stronger."
Copyright © 2000 Bre Coffey
"A bond is created quickly and unknowingly.
It's only when that bond is ended that you realize how strong it had been.
Memories are all that holds things together now."
Copyright © 2000 Tim Wright, Australia
"If you want to succeed in life, you have to fail first.
If you want to succeed first and fail later,
Then you're never gonna succeed."
Copyright © 2000 Kim Smith
"Today well lived makes every yesterday a vision of loveliness,
Every tomorrow a vision of hope."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Katy H., Age 15 --- Saskatchewan, Canada
"Men may have discovered fire,
But women discovered how to play with it."
Sarah Jessica Parker --- Sent in by Nicole, Age 17 --- Ohio
Seldom a Reason
Birth is a purposeful process -
You're not brought here to simply exist.
You must fulfill your dutiful life,
Or it becomes meaningless to subsist.
Why not make the most of the chance?
You've been given the noblest present.
It's only when the chance is not taken,
That the gift becomes unpleasant.
Unfortunately things cannot be undone,
So a mistake can ruin your existence.
Be ever so careful of your fragile life,
As there's never a real second chance.
Strive to meet the best of your ability.
Dare to try all that's to be attempted.
Endeavor to make others happy,
Or you'll end up discontented.
You're here and there's no denying it.
You cannot put the fact aside.
Life's a really sophisticated thing,
You need do more than just survive.
Much quicker than a speeding bullet,
Than the speed of rocket flares,
Even than the astounding speed of sound -
Life can be gone - yours or theirs.
No one knows why it happens but it does.
Hoping is futile.
Copyright © 2000 Tim Wright
"The strongest oak tree of the forest
Is not the one that is protected from
The storm and hidden from the sun.
It's the one that stands in the open
Where it is compelled to struggle for it's existence
Against the winds and rains and the scorching sun."
Napoleon Hill --- Sent in by Kim, Age 17 --- Wisconsin
"If what you did yesterday still impresses you,
You haven't done much today."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Chris, Age 15 --- Ohio
"This is it! This is your life; your only life. You must live it to it'sfullest potential. Doing anything else would be devastating. Don't go outand live your life to impress people. They will leave you and move on.Don't try to make them think you're cool by compromising your morals andbeliefs. It will get you absolutely nowhere and bring you only the deepestkind of pain."
Copyright © 2000 Ashley Cleland
If I could catch a rainbow......
I would do it just for you
And share with you its beauty
On the days you're feeling blue.
If I could build a mountain
You could call your very own
A place to find serenity,
A place to be alone------
If I could take your troubles
I would toss them in the sea------
But all these things I'm finding
Are impossible for me,
I cannot build a mountain
Or catch a rainbow fair
But let me be what I know best
A friend that's always there."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Jennifer, Age 18 --- Oregon
When asked if he thought his last second shot had a chance of going in whenit left his hands Michael Jordan replied,:
" I always think my shots are going in."
March 1998 press conference --- Sent in by Katie G., Age 18 --- Illinois
"Responsibility:
Accepting the consequences of your actions
And dealing with them in a positive way."
Copyright © 2000 Jared Mahoney
"Don't be afraid of opposition.
Remember, a kite rises against - not with the wind."
Hamilton Mabre --- Sent in by Andrea K., Age 15 --- Michigan
"If you don't believe in yourself,
How do you expect anyone else to?"
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Kim, Age 19 --- Midlands, UK
"No matter where we go or who we become,
Never forget those who helped us get there."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Stephanie R., Age 19 --- Florida
"I wanted to write you a poem,
To tell you exactly how I feel,
Expressing my inner feelings,
Words just don't come out,
The way they should.
I wanted to tell you,
I miss you,
I miss you so deeply,
It seems rain does not stop,
I miss your voice,
I miss your smile,
So much...
When you're not around,
An enormous emptiness arrives.
I wanted to tell you,
How much I miss you,
How much I need you,
As if you were the air I breathe,
I wanted to tell you,
Simply,
I miss being with you.
I miss you,
It's been so long,
I wonder...
Why the sun does not shine anymore.
If for some reason...
Do please tell me,
Missing you deeply,
I look upon that star and wish,
Why can't you be what you were?"
Copyright © 2000 Michelle Bobier
--- Sent in by Amanda L., Age 14 --- New Jersey
"Make friends; Not enemies."
Unknown --- Sent in by Nicole T., Age 15 --- Ohio
"Accept no one's definition of YOUR life
Define YOURSELF!"
Harvey Feirstein --- Sent in by Melanie, Age 19 --- Malaysia
"Follow your dreamboat,
Because if you turn it in the right direction,
It will always sail towards the horizon!!"
Copyright © 2000 Amanda Willis
--- Sent in by Brianne T., Age 13 --- Ohio
"What you need to know about the past
Is that no matter what has happened
It's all worked together to bring you to this very moment.
And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Kristen H., Age 15 --- Pennsylvania
"You can have unbelievable intelligence;
You can have connections;
You can have opportunities fall out of the sky.
But in the end,
Hard work is the true, enduring characteristic of successful people."
Marsha Evans --- Sent in by Jessie, Age 15 --- Pennsylvania
"In a world of give and take
Few are willing to give what it takes to be a champion.
For life does not determine a champion, a champion determines life."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Justin F., Age 15 --- North Carolina
"Live the future
So as not to die in the Past."
Adam Shannara --- Ireland
"The outside and physical appearance of a person
Does not determine that person's worth;
It's what is on the inside that makes a person truly beautiful."
Juliette Funt --- Sent in by Dana, Age 16 --- California
"Remember the past, dream of the future, but live in today."
Valerie M., Age 17 --- Indiana
"The only thing worse the losing, is quitting."
Caitlin M., Age 14 --- New Jersey
"The best link to your past is your family:
Take care of them."
Nicole T., Age 15 --- Ohio
"The tough thing about following your heart is what people forget tomention: that sometimes your heart takes you to places that you shouldn'tbe, places that are as scary as they are exciting, as dangerous as they arealluring, and sometimes your heart takes you to places that can never leadto a happy ending and that's not even the difficult part, the difficult partis when you follow your heart you leave [the]normal and once you do, you cannever go back."
From 'Roswell' ---- Sent in by Liz, Age 19 --- Missouri
"I believe that we learn best by trying to accomplish things that we aren't sure wecan do; if we know that we can do them, what else can be learned?"
Lester I. McCann --- Sent in by M. Patricia, Age 18 --- Oklahoma
"If you don't wake up with a smile today,
You can always practice for tomorrow!"
Author Unknown --- Sent by Rosemary, Age 17 --- British Columbia, Canada
"Friendship breathes life into us
And grants us strength to live on til tomorrow."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Elizabeth, Age 14 --- Connecticut
(I would like to dedicate this quote to my friend Lauren B. who is a seniorat my high school. She has always been there for me, to comfort me, to supportme, or just to talk to. I want to thank her for everything she's done for methis year, and I'm really going to miss her next year.)
"We, of course, are a nation of differences.
Those differences don't make us weak;
They're the source of our strength."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Kimberly S., Age 13 --- Florida
"The first step to better times is to imagine them."
Fortune Cookie --- Sent in by Elizabeth, Age 16 --- Oklahoma
"Find the good, and then praise it."
Alex Haley --- Sent in by Alesha O., Age 12 --- Texas
"No matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Abbie, Age 17 --- Oklahoma
"Don't quit when the tide is lowest,
For it's just about to turn;
Don't quit over doubts and questions,
For there's something you might learn.
Don't quit when the night is darkest,
For it's just awhile til dawn;
Don't quit when you've run the farthest,
For the race is almost won.
Don't quit when the hill is steepest,
For your goal is almost nigh;
Don't quit for you're not a failure,
Until you fail to try."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Nikki, Age 16
"You always have to give 100 percent,
Because if you don't, someone, somewhere,
Will give 100 percent and will beat you when you meet."
Ed Macauley --- Sent in by Kim, Age 17 --- Wisconsin
The Oyster's Beauty
There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into his shell.
It was only a grain,
But it gave him great pain,
For oysters have feelings,
Although they're so plain.
Now, did he berate,
The harsh workings of fate,
That had brought him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse at the government
Cry for election,
And claim that the sea should
Have give him protection?
No-he said to himself,
As he lay on a shell,
Since I cannot remove it,
I shall try to improve it.
Now the years have
Rolled around
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny-stew.
And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl,
All richly aglow-
Now the tale has a moral;
For isn't it grand
What an oyster can do
With a morsel of sand?
What couldn't we do
If we'd only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin.
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Elizabeth, Age 14 --- Connecticut