#ring

I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get teaching two hours a day, sharing one chair for three of them, and who are very keen to get an education. I have them in my mind all the time. Because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens. ↗

— Christine Lagarde

#because #chair #day #education #even

I'm very much a believer that it's action that matters much more so than, you know, the flurry of political promises and statements and slogans that are used during political campaigns. ↗

— Christine Lagarde

#believer #campaigns #during #i #know

Where hast thou wandered. gentle gale, to find the perfumes thou dost bring? ↗

— William C. Bryant

#dost #find #gale #gentle #hast

Obviously, I'm suffering from lack of sleep, but it truly is a blessing to be a mother. ↗

— Bernard Lagat

#i #lack #mother #obviously #sleep

I first read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit when I was eighteen. It felt as though the author had taken every element I'd ever want in a story and woven them into one huge, seamless narrative; but more important, for me, Tolkien had created a place, a vast, beautiful, awesome landscape, which remained a resource long after the protagonists had finished their battles and gone their separate ways. In illustrating The Lord of the Rings I allowed the landscapes to predominate. In some of the scenes the characters are so small they are barely discernible. This suited my own inclinations and my wish to avoid, as much as possible, interfering with the pictures being built up in the reader's mind, which tends to be more closely focussed on characters and their inter-relationships. I felt my task lay in shadowing the heroes on their epic quest, often at a distance, closing in on them at times of heightened emotion but avoiding trying to re-create the dramatic highpoints of the text. With The Hobbit, however, it didn't seem appropriate to keep such a distance, particularly from the hero himself. I don't think I've ever seen a drawing of a Hobbit which quite convinced me, and I don't know whether I've gotten any closer myself with my depictions of Bilbo. I'm fairly happy with the picture of him standing outside Bag End, before Gandalf arrives and turns his world upside-down, but I've come to the conclusion that one of the reasons Hobbits are so quiet and elusive is to avoid the prying eyes of illustrators. ↗

— Alan Lee

#lord-of-the-rings #the-hobbit #beauty

It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others. ↗

— Steve Maraboli

#caring #change #inspirational #leadership #motivational

What I've found about it is that there are some folks you can talk to until you're blue in the face--they're never going to get it and they're never going to change. But every once in a while, you'll run into someone who is eager to listen, eager to learn, and willing to try new things. Those are the people we need to reach. We have a responsibility as parents, older people, teachers, people in the neighborhood to recognize that. ↗

— Tyler Perry

#growing-up #maturity #mentor #mentoring #mentors

A cat purring on your lap while you sip hot tea, is there anything better? Oh, and you’re floating in a zero gravity environment. ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#cat #cats #funny #gravity #humor

Curiosity begins as an act of tearing to pieces or analysis. ↗

— Samuel Alexander

#analysis #begins #curiosity #pieces #tearing

When we fulfill our function, which is to truly love ourselves and share love with others, then true happiness sets in. ↗

— Gabrielle Bernstein

#purpose #self-love #sharing-love #change