By Lydia Browne
The timeless words of people throughout history have lasting power that resonates to this day. Life is hard, and the wisdom of those who lived lives of purpose is quite a comfort when things don’t go your way. Many writers are well known for their ability to spin words into gold with beautiful details and meaningful messages. Here are some of my favorite authors and the best of their inspirational and instructional quotes.
Maud Hart Lovelace
Maud Hart Lovelace was born in Mankato, Minnesota on April 25, 1892. She soon became a prolific writer, with a booklet of poems published at age 10 and her first short story sold by 18. Her best known work is her Betsy-Tacy novel series, in which she fictionalized her life from childhood to early adulthood. Readers became enthralled with the escapades of Betsy—based on the author herself—and her friends and family. Throughout her writings, Lovelace sprinkled in the little bits of wisdom that she and Betsy gained as they grew up.
“Good things come, but they’re never perfect; are they? You have to twist them into something perfect.” – Betsy and the Great World
“You might as well learn right now, you two, that the poorest guide you can have in life is what people will say.” – Heaven to Betsy
“Our lives can hold just so much. If they’re filled with one thing, they can’t be filled with another. We ought to do a lot of thinking about what we want to fill them with.” – Betsy Was a Junior
“We have to build our lives out of what materials we have. It’s as though we were given a heap of blocks and told to build a house.” – Emily of Deep Valley
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on November 29, 1898. He too was a very imaginative child. In his adulthood, he fought and was injured in the British Army during World War I. Afterwards, he held various positions at the highly esteemed Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Throughout his life, Lewis wrote a large number of works. His most famous was the series of children’s fantasy novels The Chronicles of Narnia.
“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” – C.S. Lewis
“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” – C.S. Lewis
“There are no ordinary people.” – C.S. Lewis
L.M. Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, on November 30, 1874. She wrote her most well known book series—beginning with Anne of Green Gables—in Leaskdale after marrying Reverend Ewen Macdonald. In part through the charismatic character of Anne, Montgomery provided many words of wisdom in her books.
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” – L.M. Montgomery
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” – Anne of Green Gables
“Well, we all make mistakes, dear, so just put it behind you. We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.” – Anne of Avonlea
“Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it’s what they bring to the world that really counts.” – Anne of Green Gables
J.R.R. Tolkein
John Ronald Reuel Tolkein was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa on January 3, 1892. Like C.S. Lewis, Tolkein served in the military during World War I. Lewis would soon become a good friend of his as both were part of a group called “The Inklings.” Like Lewis, he also worked at Oxford University as a scholar and professor. Tolkein is known for The Hobbit, and the book series The Lord of the Rings. Throughout his immensely detailed writings, Tolkein gifts readers with plenty of advising and inspiring words.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – The Fellowship of the Ring
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – The Fellowship of the Ring
“Courage is found in unlikely places.” – The Fellowship of the Ring
“It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.” – The Fellowship of the Ring
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon, England, on September 15, 1890. She was famous as an author of mystery novels, having written over 70 in her lifetime. She even earned the titles of the “Queen of Crime” and the “Queen of Mystery” for her popular detective stories. And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd were two of her most popular books, while titles like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile have been made into films, among others.
“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it.” – Agatha Christie
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it.” – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Bill Watterson
Bill Watterson was born in Washington, D.C. on July 5 1958. He is well known for the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, which follows a boisterous 6-year-old named Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, who comes to life in Calvin’s company. Watterson received the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award for his work in 1986, and was the youngest cartoonist to do so. Despite the fact that his two main characters were a 6-year-old and a stuffed tiger, this cartoon strip is full of deep thoughts that make the reader think about the world around them.
“We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.” – Calvin and Hobbes
“If good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are?” – Calvin and Hobbes
“Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure.” – Calvin and Hobbes
“The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that’s even worse” – Calvin and Hobbes
“We all have different desires and needs, but if we don’t discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. ” – Bill Watterson
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born outside of Pepin, Wisconsin on February 7, 1867. The Little House on the Prairie book series fictionalized her childhood, from the forests of Wisconsin to the prairies of Kansas and beyond. The series details the joys and sorrows of her childhood and early adulthood. She too presents the perspectives and wisdom that she gained to readers through her writing.
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“There’s no great loss without some small gain.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“The only stupid thing about words is the spelling of them.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
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