J.K. Rowling

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

This quote, spoken by Albus Dumbledore, comes from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by author J.K. Rowling. The Potter series books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies. Aside from writing the Potter series, Rowling is equally notable for her "rags to riches" life story in which she progressed from living on welfare and writing on napkins to multi-millionaire status within five years time. Rowling, in 2008, was estimated to be the 12th richest women in Britain.

Walt Disney

We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Disney (1901-1966) was a multiple Academy Award winning film producer, director, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. He is notable as one of the most influential and innovative figures during the twentieth century. As the co-founder of Walt Disney Productions he became the best-known motion picture producer in the world.

E.E. Cummings

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human can fight and never stop fighting.

Cummings (1894-1962) was an American poet, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses more than 900 poems, plays, essays, drawings, and two novels. He is best remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular.

Sylvia Plath

Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

Plath (1932-1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Some of Plath's most famous works include The Bell Jar, Three Women, and Letters Home. Plath is credited with helping to introduce the genre of confessional poetry to American literary culture.

Blaise Pascal

The heart has reasons that reasons cannot know.

Pascal (1623-1662) was mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher who is most famous for his work in defense of the scientific method. As a child prodigy taught by his father, Pascal focused his early studies on scientific fields. Later in his short life he had a "mystical" experience and devoted himself entirely to philosophy and theology.

Henry James

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

James (1843-1916) is one of the founders and leaders of a school of realism in fiction literature. Some of James's most famous pieces of work include titles such as The Ambassadors, What Masie Knew, and The Portrait of a Lady. Most of James's work centered around themes such as the encounter of America and Europe, personal relationships, the proper exercise of power, and general questions of morality.

Sixteen Candles

- "But if I were Ginny I'd have this guy crawling on his knees."

- "Well. let me tell you something about Ginny. Now, I love her as much as I love you. But she's a different person. Sometimes I worry about her. When you're given things kind of easily, you don't always appreciate them. With you, I'm not always worried. When it happens to you, Samantha, it'll be forever."

Sixteen Candles is a 1984 coming-of-age film directed by John Hughes. The film is considered the beginning of the Brat Pack series and one that will continued play for years to come. Molly Ringwald plays Sam, who is suffering from a horrible weekend set in motion by her family forgetting her birthday. Michael Schoeffling plays Jake Ryan, the high school dream boat who is starting to find that partying and cute girls are not all there is in life. Anthony Michael Hall portrays the role of Ted, the geeky freshman dork trying to build a reputation.

Jack Kerouac

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the sky.

Kerouac (1922-1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, and artist from Lowell, Massachusetts. He is amongst the writers best known as the Beat Generation. Though his work received little acclaim during his life, today it is considered important and influential. It has inspired the works of many others and movements such as New Journalism.

One Tree Hill

Stepping up. It's a simple concept. It basically means to rise above yourself, to do a little more, to show you something special. Lucas is gone, but that does not mean the season is over. As a matter of fact, I'd say it's just beginning. You might want to stay out of my way for a while. Life's funny sometimes. Can push pretty hard, like when you fall in love with someone and they forget to love you back. Like when your best friend and your boyfriend leave you alone. Like when you pull the trigger or light the flame, and you can't take it back. Like I said, in sports, they call this stepping up. In life, I call it pushing back. You know, it's been said that we just don't recognize the significant moments of our lives while they're happening. We grow complacent with ideas or things or people, and we take them for granted. And it's usually not until that thing is about to be taken away from you that you realize how wrong you've been, that you realize how much you really need it, how much you love it. God, I love this game. Every once in a while, people step up. They rise above themselves. Sometimes they surprise you. And sometimes they fall short. Life is funny sometimes, it can push pretty hard. But if you look close enough, you find hope in the words of children, in the bars of a song and in the eyes of someone you love. And if you're lucky, I mean if you're the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back.

One Tree Hill is a television show on the WB network about two half brothers and their shared love for basketball and rivalry that stems from it. The show is now entering it's 6th season and has surpassed the 100th episode mark. Though a show designed for tween through young adult markets, the writing of the shows plots and scripts often turns it's soap opera story line into profound pieces of work.

Lewis Carroll

"There is no use in trying," said Alice. "One can't believe impossible things."

"Why I dare say you have not had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age I always did it for half an hour everyday. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), was an English author, mathematician, and photographer who gained a international reputation for his fantastic logic, fantasy, and word play. His most known works include Alice in Wonderland and it's sequel, Through The Looking Glass, the work this quote originates from.

Forbes Watson

None can have a healthy love for flowers unless he loves the wild ones.

Forbes Watson was an art commentator for the New Yorker and New York Evening Post during the 1920s. He is best known for being the editor of The Arts, a lively and influential art magazine and vocally advertising his anti-authority outlook on life.