"Life is a long series of unexpected hellos and unwanted goodbyes, and nohing we do can change that.". Augusten Burroughs, 'Dry'

"Know who you are, know what you want, and act with integrity." Lani Diane Rich & Alastair Stephens, authors and webmasters of StoryWonk

Though I'm not particularly religious, I love the Prayer of St Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.