If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time longer than a single post (for which I can’t thank you enough), you will have no doubt noticed I’m slightly obsessed with quotes.
Okay fine, I’m really obsessed with them.
Travel quotes, life quotes, anything I can tuck away in my notebook or on a post-it note for inspiration on a rainy day – I’m not picky.
Yesterday was such a day in southern India – not rainy, per se (in fact quite the opposite) but a day when things didn’t exactly go according to plan. After two hours of unsuccessfully hunting for a guesthouse in my beloved Pondicherry, I found myself sitting in a restaurant in a little town called Villuparam, moving on to my next destination early, waiting for the bus to leave.
Over the past week, two of my best friends sent quotes my way – pretty epic quotes, if I do say so myself – and someone else left a comment with yet another epic quote in it, and so while putting this post together yesterday – a day filled with that particular breed of frustration that occurs when your best-laid travel plans go awry – I thought I’d share the inspiration that kept coming my way all week.
And because I had some time to kill, I turned to PicMonkey, and set the quotes against a few recent landscape photos I’ve taken across India and Indonesia. And lastly, I’ve uploaded them as quite large files (about 2,000 pixels in width), so feel free to download any or all of them if your desktop wallpaper needs refreshing!
1. “Whatever you dream you can do, begin it…”
Big thanks to my best friend Jennifer for sending this one to me this week. What is equally timely about it is that it comes from Murray’s 1951 book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, which is wonderfully fitting given my recent trip up to the Himalayan foothills of Dharamsala.
And because it’s awesome but just too long for one photo, here’s the full quote:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
2. “Life is about not knowing…”
Not even a day after Jen emailed me, I got another note from my friend Micaela in London, again with a quote in it. Micaela and I have had a lot of conversations about uncertainty and embracing the unknown (or at least not panicking too terribly much about it), so this one fit right in.
3. “Go and look behind the Ranges…”
A recent comment from a reader named Ines on my About page was chock-full of some of my favorite travel quotes, but I’d never heard this one from Rudyard Kipling before. I love the sense of discovery and adventure it captures – thanks for sharing it, Ines!
4. “I hope you see things that startle you…”
I stumbled across this last one on my own this week while watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Don’t you love it when a random movie turns out to be just the thing you need to hear at that moment?
And again, here’s the full quote, which comes from a letter that Benjamin writes to his daughter:
“For what it’s worth, it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
Beautiful Candace. And of course now I have more lovely quotes for my quote book 🙂
I definitely thought of you and your quote book when I was putting this together 🙂
I second Kim, these are beautiful and have been added to my quote book too!
Yay!! So glad to hear it, Hannah 🙂 Seriously missing you, Kim, Jenny and our Boomshankar sunset drinks! Hope all is going wonderfully in Thailand.
“Of all the paths you take in life
Make sure a few of them are dirt.”
Love this one, Abbe! And I couldn’t agree more – thanks for sharing it 🙂
Hello Candace, obsessed is right! 🙂
I love quotes too. It is like I have a random databse of quotes in my head and I recall them from time to time for amusement. Some that immediately come to my mind are :
1. From the movie Inception. I throw around this line to my friends frequently and I like it for its adaptability to any situation – “Don’t you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!”
2. “Labour Omnia Vincit” – I think it means “Hardwork conquers all”. This quote has stayed with me for the last 15 years…
3. From Marilyn Manson’s song, “Sweet Dreams”. Quote “Travel the world and the seven seas”>
Have fun, Vinayakan
Thanks for the quotes, Vin! I especially like the first one about taking a leap of faith…so very true 🙂 How’s the rest of your trip going? Where to next?
Ah, the movie Inception is like drugs to me!
I returned with some really nice pictures of US. I am going to print and frame them up. Drove at least 2,000 between CA, UT & AZ 🙂
Next is probably somewhere in Middle East…Further, I have Istanbul & Ephesus high on my list. Let’s see
Vinayakan
Hey Vin! Great to hear from you, and I’m so glad you had such a great time in the US…nice work clocking 2,000 miles 🙂 That’s the best way to see the country, hands down. And Turkey sounds like a brilliant place for your next adventure – happy planning!
I’m totally inspired!!!
Excellent!! That was definitely my hope for this post 🙂
love love love. I had forgotten that bit from Benjamin Button but thanks for the reminder… I wish everyone the strength to follow their dreams and start again.
Yes! I absolutely loved that quote from the film – and there were quite a few other things he said that I kept scribbling down as well 🙂 I like what you said about needing strength to follow our dreams – that’s an interesting and beautiful way of putting it.
Lovely 😉
Thanks, Lela!
Beautiful quote about life
I’m glad the quotes resonated with you, Shahid!
Thanks for sharing such the quotes that can inspire anyone.
You’re very welcome, Khushi! I’m happy to hear these quotes resonated with you 🙂
It can be hard to balance work and life, but these life quotes can help us focus on what’s most important for us, such a great quotes.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the quotes! I definitely enjoyed pulling them together 🙂
Great quotes for life
Thanks Candace Rose Rardon. This article really sounds good.
Thanks for Sharing lovely Quotes. I Love it.
Hi ! This is my first visit to your blog! Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on.
Nice work with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information which we all need, helpful information. I would like to thank you for the efforts you shown remarkable writing skill in this article
Tubelight Torrent
Tubelight Torrent Download
Tubelight Full Movie Download
Tubelight Movie Torrent
Tubelight Movie Download
Tubelight Full Movie
i just love these quotes, nice quotation about life!!
this all quote are just amazing i turely loved this
very nice blog Thanks for sharing such the quotes that can inspire anyone.
its a very nice article.
Veterans day
Happy Veterans Day Images 2017
woowww awesom collection thanaks
free download apps for ipad