"MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES FOR TEENS"
SUBMITTED BY TEENS
"When you lie to your parents
About something serious you have done,
You may think at the time that you won't feel bad
And no one will find out and everything will be okay,
But I've learned that the guilt you have to live with
And the pain you put your friends through,
Is so much worse than any punishment
Your parents could ever come up with."
Rachel, Age 14 --- California
"They say you teens are leaders of the future, leaders of tomorrow.
Well, you know what, I think that's BS!
You're leaders right now!"
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Tish, Age 14 --- Washington
"Anyone can become angry-that is easy.
But to be angry with the right person,
To the right degree at the right time, for the right purpose,
And in the right way-this is not easy."
Aristotle --- Submitted by Sara, Age 16 --- Minnesota
"I am told not to be who I am.
Then who should I be?
I am told to change the way I act.
Then how should I act?
I am told to be different,
Yet they tell me to act like everyone else
I am told I am weird,
But who is normal?"
Copyright © 1999 Geoffrey Favakeh
"Success is peace of mind in knowing that you did your best
To become the best that you're capable of becoming."
Angela P., Age 15 --- Michigan
"To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."
Anonymous --- Sent by Emily E., Age 16 --- Pennsylvania
"God is in control."
Doug Gibbons --- Submitted by Jennifer P., Age 15 --- Kentucky
"Around the corner I have found a friend,
In this great city that hath no end.
Yet the days go by, and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend's face,
For life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine...
We were younger then,
Now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow," I say, "I will call on Jim,"
"Just to show that I am thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes, and tomorrow goes,
And the distance between us grows and grows...
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir, Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end,
Around the corner, a vanished friend."
Unknown--- Sent in by Erin B., Age 16 ---Pennsylvania
"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow.
The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
Abraham Lincoln --- Sent in by KA, Age 16 --- Colorado
"Your day will go the way the corners of your mouth turn."
Unknown --- Sent in by Angel H., Age 16 --- New York
"Winners believe they will succeed."
Ashley, Age 16 --- Pennsylvania
"Though I search myself, there is always someone else I see."
Unknown --- Sent in by Brooke, Age 15 --- New York
"They will say that you are on the wrong road, if it is your own."
Antonio Porchia --- Sent in by Catherine, Age 15 --- British Columbia, Canada
"When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant
I could hardly stand to have him around.
When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished
At how much he had learned in seven years."
Mark Twain --- Sent in by Eve L. --- Nevada
"Every day, try to help someone who can't reciprocate your kindness."
Carrie, Age 17 --- Wisconsin
"We are shaped by our thoughts; We become what we think.
When the mind is pure; joy follows, like a shadow that never leaves."
Buddha --- Sent in by Michael M., Age 17 --- Ohio
"You must take a chance and spread your wings if you ever want to fly."
Mary M., Age 18 --- Georgia
"Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours,
May we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity
That we absorbed the loss."
Doug Williams --- Sent in by Hunter W. --- North Carolina
"That which was hard to endure is sweet to remember."
Mark Twain --- Sent in by Maddy, Age 15 --- Texas
"My desire to win is real strong, and I'll go as far as it takes me."
Michael Jordan --- Sent in by Lisa D., Age 16 --- Illinois
"Perfection is something that only exists in your imagination."
Sam P., Age 16 --- Virginia
"Never apologize for showing feeling.
When you do so, you apologize for truth."
Benjamin Disraeli --- Sent in by Laura M., Age 16 --- Iowa
"Don't be afraid to be weak, don't be too proud to be strong."
Brian R., Age 19 --- Illinois
"When we learn to love those
Who have forgiven us for not forgiving them,
We then have learned to love ourselves."
Andrea M., Age 16, --- Massachusetts
"If something as simple as saying 'I love you' changes a life,
Just imagine what the rest of the human vocabulary can do."
Sarah, Age 13 --- Massachusetts
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
However measured, or far away."
Henry David Thoreau --- Sent in by Rachel, Age 17 --- Virginia
"Hope as we might
Be as it may
For regrets that we carry
Only we are to blame"
Igor L., Age 16 --- New York
"Everyone has a past;
Maybe black or maybe white.
The most important thing
Is to mix the most beautiful colors
To make a rainbow for the future."
Madeline A., Age 17 --- San Germán, Puerto Rico
--- Sent in by Mrs. Cynthia Ramírez --- San Germán, Puerto Rico
"There is nothing in life that you have to do, except to die.
However, there are consequences for all of your actions.
So choose what to do wisely, for the consequences will make up your life."
Eve La'Valley --- Sent in by Steff M., Age 16 --- Kentucky
"God doesn't work ON you,
He works THROUGH you!"
Liz, Age 15 --- British Columbia, Canada
"Remember that in the midst of life's worst storms,
There is a silver lining in EVERY cloud."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Kathleen W., Age 16 --- South Carolina
"You can't always expect things in life to work out.
There are always going to be bad things,
And no matter what you do
You can't stop them from happening.
You are going to make mistakes, but learn from them...
If you learn by your mistakes,
You can have more hope that good things will happen,
And when good things happen you succeed!"
M. Franklin, Age 16 --- New York
"To dream the impossible dream
Is not something to be imagined or contemplated,
But something to be done and strived for."
Jessica B., Age 16 --- Georgia
"Life is not a problem to be solved
But a reality to be experienced."
Soren Kierkegaard --- Sent in by Brie, Age 18 --- New Jersey
"I know you believe you understand what you think I said
But I'm not sure you realize that what you heard
Is not what I meant."
Off a poster --- Sent in by K. D., Age 16 --- New Hampshire
"I am what I choose."
Chris C., Age 18 --- Missouri
"If you're not afraid...
If you take everything you are,
Everything worthwhile in you,
And direct it at one goal, one ultimate mark,
You've got to get there."
James Dean --- Sent in by Jessica G., Age 16 --- Ohio
"Dreams are the beginnings of the great things in life."
Amy, Age 15 --- California
"There are many paths to the top of the mountain,
But the view is always the same."
Chinese Proverb --- Submitted by Brandon S., Age 16 --- Texas
"If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?"
Joe Namath --- Sent in by Ryan S.
"Today I will do better than yesterday.
Tomorrow I will do better than today.
And that is why I will fulfill my dreams."
Peter F., Age 16 --- South Africa
"Your life is a gift from God,
What you make of your life,
Is a gift back."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Amanda P., Age 15 --- New York
"To not follow your bliss is to upset the universe."
Unknown --- Sent in by Sally, Age 17 --- Indiana
"Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below."
John Dryden --- Sent in by Jaime B., Age 18 --- Alberta, Canada
"Life is like a snowflake.
Enjoy yourself and make the best of the time you have,
Before you melt like a snowflake."
Michele C., Age 14 --- Massachusetts
"Love is like a tree:
It grows by itself, roots deeply in our being,
And continues to flourish over a heart in ruin.
The inexplicable fact is that the blinder it is,
The more tenacious it is.
It is never stronger than when it is completely unreasonable."
Victor Hugo --- Sent in by Courtney S., Age 16 --- Illinois
WHO IS A FRIEND
"When trouble comes your Soul to try
You love the Friend who just "stand by"
Perhaps there's nothing He/She can do
The thing is strictly up to you
For there are troubles all your own
And paths the soul must tread alone
Times when Love cannot smooth the road
Nor Friendship lift the heavy load
But just to know you have a Friend
Who will "stand by" until the end
Whose sympathy through all endures
Who's warm hand clasp is always yours
It helps, someway, to pull you through
Although there's nothing He/She can do
And so with fervent heart I cry
God bless the Friend who just stands by!"
Unknown Author --- Submitted By Concitta C., Age 19 --- Illinois
"Life's a journey, not a destination."
Steven Tyler --- Submitted by Jason B., Age 17 --- Ohio
"Life is like a movie, and you're the main character.
Give it a happy ending."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Teresa M., Age 16 --- South Carolina
"For whatever men say in their blindness,
And in spite of the fancies of youth,
There is nothing so kindly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth."
Alice Cary --- Submitted by Heather, Age 17 --- Florida
"Winners do what losers don't want to."
Author Unknown --- Contributed by Tricia G., Age 17 --- Ohio
"Music allows our dreams a chance to sing and dance."
Unknown --- Sent in by Kristin, Age 17 --- Wyoming
"Remember to LIVE!"
Goethe --- Sent in by Malini D., Age 17 --- Kansas
"There are small ships and big ships but the best ships are Friendships."
Author Unknown --- Sent by Chris P., Age 15 --- Minnesota
"I'd rather be a has-been than a never-been at all."
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Jennifer N. --- Massachusetts
"When kids deserve love the least, they need it the most."
Bishop Carmody --- Sent in by Allison, Age 16 --- Texas
"One day at a time--
this is enough.
Do not look back and grieve over the past,
for it is gone.
And do not be troubled about the future,
for it has not yet come.
Live in the present
and make it so beautiful
that it will be worth remembering."
Ida Scott Taylor --- Sent in by Allison C., Age 18 --- California
"Flatter me and I may not believe you.
Criticize me and I may not like you.
Ignore me and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me and I may not forget you."
William Ward --- Sent in by Leah V., Age 14 --- Minnesota
"Blessed are the risk takers, for they will bring us tomorrow."
Anonymous --- Sent in by Jaime M., Age 15
"It's not how you start, It's how you finish!"
Author Unknown --- Sent in by Natalia M., Age 18 --- Texas
"Those who have learned - listened,
Those who have skills - practiced,
Those who won - did both."
Chris V., Age 17 --- Ontario, Canada
"You can be in a room filled with people and still be lonely,
For loneliness is a state of mind."
Tracy M., Age 18 --- Nova Scotia, Canada
"The words are written in the stars...
All you have to do is look."
Becky Hawk --- Sent in by Nic J., Age 16 --- Washington
"And in the end, the tortoise beat the hare!"
Chris P., Age 15 --- Minnesota
"To be, just be you."
Eric D., Age 19 --- Robertson, South Africa
"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer
But wish we didn't."
Erica Jong --- Jennifer P., Age 17 --- Pennsylvania
"Happiness is a choice,
It is not something that you have to do anything for or look for."
Brandi Lee Brag --- Sent in by Michael James B., Age 17 --- Wisconsin
"Throughout life there will always be Reese's pieces,
But rarely will there ever be a whole peanut butter cup."
M. F. & J. W., Ages 16 --- New York
"I don't have problems, just challenges.
My mistakes and failures are my lessons,
While my triumphs are milestones of my journey in life;
For life would be meaningless
If I ended my journey of learning and improving myself."
Soupfish, Age 19 --- Selangor, Malaysia