Miguel de Cervantes

Iconic Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes penned what is considered by many to be the first modern novel — and one of the best books of Western literature — Don Quixote. Born in 1547, Cervantes spent much of his adult life in captivity: for five years he was held as a slave captured by pirates. After several unsuccessful attempts to escape, he was ransomed back to his family. Throughout the rest of his life, he was in and out of debtor’s prison. It was during one of these periods of incarceration that he began to write Don Quixote. The novel was an instant success, lauded for its humor and two-sided portrayal of human nature.

THUNDER SNOW

Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thunder snowstorm, is a rare thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It commonly falls in regions of strong upward motion within the cold sector of extratropical cyclones between autumn and spring when surface temperatures are most likely to be near or below freezing. Variations exist, such as thundersleet, where the precipitation consists of sleet rather than snow.

DROP A MARSHMELLOW

What would happen if you dropped a marshmallow from the Empire State Building and it hit someone? He would get marshmallow in his hair. The marshmallow is too small and has too little weight to do any damage. It would reach terminal velocity (the speed at which it doesn’t fall any faster) fairly quickly, and that low speed, combined with the squishy nature of the marshmallow would keep it from doing any damage. Also, due to the shape of the building and the winds in the area, the marshmallow would likely not even make it to the ground, but get caught on one of the lower levels of the building and make a nice snack for a pigeon.

Love Your Fate

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called “the love of your fate.” Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, “This is what I need.” It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.” ~ Joseph Campbell from A Joseph Campbell Companion

Why not?

“You see things and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Eliminate the word impossible

“Eliminate the word impossible from your thinking and speaking vocabularies. Impossible is a failure word. The thought “It’s impossible” sets off a chain reaction of other thoughts to prove you’re right.” ~ David J. Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big

Give Joy to Enjoy

“This is the manner of noble souls: they do not want to have anything for nothing; least of all, life. Whoever is of the mob wants to live for nothing; we others, however, to whom life gave itself, we always think about what we might best give in return… One should not wish to enjoy where one does not give joy.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche from Thus Spoke Zarathustra