“By "shrine," I didn't mean a niche with candles, flowers, and a statue, but rather, Eleanor-like, an area that enshrined my passions, interests, and values. A shrine is arranged with care. It entices people to particular activities and moods. It's a sign of dedication.” —Gretchen Rubin, author ”Happier at Home”

“For better or worse, buying things (or photographing them, cataloging them, or writing reviews about them) is a way to engage with the world. When we're interested in something, we often express that by researching, shopping, buying, and collecting.” —Gretchen Rubin, author ”Happier at Home”

“Drummers typically take years to learn to move their limbs independently, and guitarists (as I was starting to realize) take many moons to learn to change chords smoothly.” —Gary Marcus, author “Guitar Zero”

“Create in your mind a scenario of experience, but then put it away. Stuff it into your pocket. Because no matter how you plot and plan, life's winds of adversity of your innocent mistakes will at times blow you off course. When you make interior or exterior journeys, there will be times you don't know where you're going. [...] Whatever you do, keep paddling.” —Marlee LeDai, author “Go Girl”

“Seeing is a learned process. Some of us go through life "seeing" very little of the power and glory around us. We do not properly filter the information that our eyes give through the mental processes of the brain. As a result we often behold things without seeing them at all. We receive physical impressions without grasping their meaning to us.” —Napolean Hill

“Before I met Matthew, there didn't seem to be room in my life for a single additional element—especially not something as significant as a fifteen-hundred-year-old vampire. But he'd slipped into unexplored, empty places when I wasn't looking.” —Deborah Harkness, author ”A Discovery of Witches”