The start of a small collection of inspirations, curated by Backyard Denim. 

I'd like to avoid fluffy feel-good stuff, and just share with you a few quotes and images that have really made me think.

"Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month — the boy who had made his own jack-knife from the ore which he had dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary for this — or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy at the Institute in the meanwhile, and had received a Rodgers' penknife from his father? Which would be most likely to cut his fingers?"

Henry David Thoreau

"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

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” 

William James