Article June 23, 2003 ISSUE

DIVINE 'lightning bolts' strike every heart

By Jeffrey Hildner

QUOTATIONS FILL MY LIFE. Push-pinned on the walls around my desk, multilayered in the deep space of my computer, underlined in the books I read, and spilling out of the notebooks I carry around — the words of brave authors and deep thinkers are always with me. They give my life form.

From Helen Keller ("Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing") and Victor Borge ("The shortest distance between two people is laughter") to my ninth-grade niece Elizabeth Pfohl, explaining to me why she likes math ("Because a '3' will always be a '3' "), sentences of wisdom send inspiring, don't-forget-what's-important, idealistic messages to my soul. And I know I'm not alone. Lots of people love quotations. Like written thought-angels, they lift us up. Their inspiration flies into our lives and gives us the spark to keep going.