"MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES FOR TEENS"
SUBMITTED BY TEENS
"Besides Pride, Loyalty, Discipline, Heart And Mind,
Confidence is the key to all the locks."
Joe Paterno
--- Sent in by Kursten W., Grade 11, Age 16
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"We cannot fail to win unless we fail to try."
Tom Clancy
--- Sent to us by Lindsay D., Grade 12, Age 17
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"The minute you start talking
About what you're going to do if you lose,
You have lost."
George Shultz
--- From Julia P., Grade 12, Age 17
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"If you train hard,
You'll not only be hard,
You'll be hard to beat."
Herschel Walker
--- From Stephen H., Grade 12, Age 17
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"There are only two options regarding commitment.
You're either in or you're out.
There's no such thing as Life In-Between."
Pat Riley
--- From West Florence High --- South Carolina
"Always keep a positive attitude and keep battling."
Michael Chang
--- From Kate R., Grade 11, Age 16
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"Sweat plus sacrifice equals success."
Charlie Finley
--- From Elizabeth G., Grade 12, Age 17
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
Michael Jordan
--- From Tyler E., Grade 10, Age 15
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"By your own soul, learn to live
And if men thwart you take no heed.
If men hate you have no care.
Sing your song, dream your dream,
Hope your hope and pray your prayer."
Parkenham Beatty
--- From Laurie C., Grade 11, Age 16
--- West Florence High --- South Carolina
"The ninety and nine are with dreams content;
But the hope of a world made new
Is the hundredth man who is grimly bent
On making the dream come true."
Anonymous
--- Contributed by Laureen M., Age 14 --- Washington
"Most people race to see who is fastest.
I race to see who has the most guts."
Steve Prefontaine, (the greatest American distance runner)
--- Sent to us by Max S., Age 16 --- Minnesota
"It's better to have loved and lost,
Than to never have loved at all."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
--- Sent in by Magdalena S., Age 16 --- London, Ontario
--- Author's name supplied by Amanda G.
"The Tragedy Of Life Is Not Death,
But What Dies In Us While We Live."
Unknown --- Submitted by Melanie R., Age 18 --- Melbourne, Australia
"Twenty years from now
You will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do
Than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain --- Sent in by Eve L. --- Nevada
"This chance will stand before you only once."
Unknown --- Kate M., Age 18 --- Wisconsin
"Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found it was ourselves."
Robert Frost --- Contributed by Maddy, Age 15 --- Texas
"The memories you can make today you can never make again."
Holly R., Age 18 --- Wisconsin
"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles;
It empties today of its strength."
Author Unknown
--- Contributed by Heidi B., Age 19 --- Indiana
"Tell me who your friends are
And I'll tell you who your friends are."
Nikki S. M., Age 12 --- Manila, Philippines
"Nothing really dies as long as it's not forgotten."
L. J. Smith's trilogy 'The Forbidden Game'
--- Submitted by Amanda, Age 17 --- Scotland, UK
True Friendship
"Whenever I'm not there, and we're apart,
Remember I'm there, always in heart.
When things get bad, and really rough,
Stick it out, I know its tough.
And when its over, give me a call
I'll be here, heart and all.
And when you think there's no way out,
We'll do it together and figure it out.
We've survived together through many years,
Shared lots of laughs and lots of tears.
You've always been there for me when I'm blue,
You always know just what to do.
And when you're down, I hope I'm there,
To show you just how much I care.
No matter the distance no matter the miles,
We'll always have each other's smiles.
Always let your true friends know
Just how much you enjoy
And appreciate their company and friendship!!"
Alexis M., Age 16 --- Maryland
"I race not to win or lose, but to discover courage."
Pre --- Sent in by Kris D., Age 16 --- Ohio
"You never lose by loving.
You always lose by holding back."
Barbara DeAngelis
--- Sent in by Malini D., Age 17 --- Kansas
"Gaze up at the stars knowing that I see the same sky
And wish the same sweet dreams."
Kristin, Age 17 --- Wyoming
"It's hard to detect good luck.
It looks so much like something you've earned."
Sent in by Tricia G., Age 16 --- Ohio
"The people who make a difference
Are not the ones with the credentials,
But the ones with the concerns."
Max Lucado
--- Contributed by Kellie B., Age 16 --- California
"People take the images outside them for reality
And never allow the world within to assert itself."
Hermann Hesse
--- Contributed by Laureen M., Age 14 --- Washington
"A war ship is safe in the harbor, but it's not doing its job!"
Author Unknown
--- Submitted by Kyle T., Age 16 --- Wisconsin
"Procrastinators always wait till tomorrow.
One day they will realize that tomorrow will never come."
Author Unknown
--- Sent in by Jenny P., Age 14 --- Pennsylvania
"We are all in the gutter,
But some of us are looking at the stars."
Oscar Wilde
--- Correction of quote and author's name supplied by Jennifer Hackman
--- Sent in by Jocelyn H., Age 16 --- Ontario, Canada
--- Sent in by Melanie R., Age 18 --- Melbourne, Australia
"Live every minute and love every minute you live."
Keva L., Age 16 --- Texas
"If I could be any part of your body,
I would be your tear,
So I can be born in your eye,
Live down your cheek,
And die on your lips."
Chandra V., Age 15 --- Ohio
"If you smile through your fears and sorrow,
Then maybe tomorrow you will find life still worthwhile...
If you just smile."
Unknown --- Olivia, Age 16 --- Georgia
"If you believe in yourself,
Then nothing can stop you from achieving...Yourself."
Enrique C., Age 19 --- Montevideo, Uruguay
"Enjoy the little things,
For one day you may look back
And realize they were the big things."
Carly D., Age 15 --- Texas
"There are not those who are unable
Just those who do not try."
Unknown --- Kristen, Age 16 --- Ohio
"If you look, you will see
If you touch, you will feel
If you try, you will be!!"
Unknown --- Sent to us by Brianne W., Age 16 --- South Carolina
"I think these difficult times have helped me
To understand better than before
How infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way
And that so many things that one goes around worrying about
Are of no importance whatsoever."
Isak Dinesen --- Contributed by Shireen, Age 18 --- California
"Just remember your darkest hour is only 60 minutes long."
Unknown --- Sent in by Steff M., Age 16 --- Kentucky
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king."
Unknown --- Sent in by Alison, Age 12 --- New York
"Move forward in the hope of what can be accomplished,
And do not be held back by what cannot not be done."
Jennifer, Age 16 --- Washington
The Smile
I'm standing in a crowded church.
And I am listening to the father's words.
To me, believing means seeing,
Or seeing means believing.
I don't know which.
But never the less I feel like I belong.
I feel a part of something greater than myself.
But I can't help but wonder if I'm deceiving myself.
I'm walking in a crowded airport.
Things are hectic.
People rushing, moving, worrying.
People who are striving to get where they are going.
Yet none of them take the time to notice the lives around them.
I notice.
I take the time to sit back,
To wonder who he is,
Where she's going.
What things make that man laugh and cry.
I stand, I take the time, and I wonder.
Now I feel a little less like I belong.
That something greater just become a little bigger,
And a little more unknown.
As the plain crosses the landscape of America,
I pass over millions of people.
I wonder some more.
I am farther away.
Farther away from my first idea of anything greater,
Anything organized.
Any pattern in the chaos we call life.
I am standing on a beach.
The sun is kissing the peach colored ocean.
And the ocean,
Is amazingly huge.
Stretching from every direction,
Disappearing behind the horizon.
It seems endless.
And for this moment I almost think that it is,
Endless.
A ripple of water touches my toes.
And I wonder,
Again I wonder.
Has this same droplet of water touched the other side of the world?
What things has it seen?
What times has it gone through?
The world and its ocean suddenly become very ancient to me.
Staring into the blue of the sea
Is like staring into the eyes of a woman with an old soul.
My security of belonging has vanished.
I feel like a no one.
Just another face with a mind full of hopes and dreams.
Hopes and dreams that will soon fade away like so many others.
When I die, I will be forgotten.
The memory of me, and who I use to be
Will fade.
Slowly become fainter and fainter.
Until I am gone.
Only then will I truly die.
I sit on the beach.
I watch the sun sink and sizzle in the ocean.
I hold the great star in my sight one last time.
And then it is gone.
The dark face of night replaces tranquil blues and cotton clouds.
I close my eyes and listen to the soft whisper of the ocean.
It brings little comfort.
But some is better than none.
I look up at the blanket of black that has been cast upon the sky.
I see a star.
Then another.
Two,
Three,
Suddenly the sky becomes filled with innumerable stars.
So many stars.
Incomprehensible.
Such awe.
Such humility.
An endless universe with endless planets and galaxies.
Endless civilizations.
I lift up sand in my palm and watch it fall back down to the ground.
I am a grain of sand.
I feel so small.
The loneliness is unbearable.
And I curse God.
I curse him for leaving me all alone,
For making me so small,
For leaving me with so many questions left unanswered.
I cry.
I cry because I've just lost a friend who was very dear to me.
I shiver in my sadness,
And I sleep.
It's the only way I can get some peace.
The wind,
It's soft,
It's sweet.
It tosses my hair as it tosses the world of dreams.
I'm awake.
I welcome the warmth of the sun as it brings a new day.
As the sun warms my skin in the distance I see someone walking.
Slowly making his way along the beach,
And towards me.
I stand.
He looks at me with brilliant blue eyes.
In those eyes there seems to be a likeness of the ocean.
But I can't put my finger on it.
He smiles.
He smiles and I suddenly belong again.
He smiles and I am no longer alone.
He smiles and I realize that it's the grains of sand that make the beach.
He smiles
I smile back
And he sets me soul free.
By Annie P., Age 16 --- Colorado
"As long as you keep a person down,
Some part of you has to be down there to hold him down,
So it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."
Carrie S., Age 17 --- Wisconsin
"You will because you can."
Shireen G., Age 18 --- California
"Lead, Follow, or get the hell out of the way."
Unknown --- Sent in by Andrew G., Age 15 --- Minnesota
"See into life....don't just look at it."
Cindy R., Age 16 --- South Carolina
"A good friend can shield you from the storm."
Rhea Olsen
--- Sent in by Amanda G., Age 15 --- Ohio
"Never ruin an apology with an excuse."
Unknown --- Sent in by Katie, Age 15 --- New Jersey
"If money is gold, then memories are platinum."
Written by Eric Robertson --- Georgia
"To dream of the person you would like to be
Is the waste of the person that you are."
From Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul
--- Sent in by Holly W. --- Florida
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.
It empties today of its strength.."
Corrie Ten Boom
--- Contributed by Kristen C., Age 15 --- Kansas
"Live so that your dreams will be your memories
And your memories will become your legends."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Nic J., Age 16 --- Washington
"People say true friends must always hold hands
But true friends don't need to hold hands
Because they know the other hand will always be there."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Nora V., Age 13 --- Washington
"Love starts with a smile,
Grows with a kiss,
And ends with a teardrop."
Denise, Age 17 --- New Jersey
"The thing that makes you
Not want to get up in the morning
Is the only reason why you should
Even step one foot out of bed."
Katie R., Age 14 --- Alabama
"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.
If you can dream it you can make it so."
Belva Davis
--- Sent to us by Leslie W., Age 17 --- Missouri