Today's Inspiration - Victoria Holt

Quote of the Day

"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."
– Victoria Holt

About Victoria Holt

Victoria Holt was one of prolific British author Eleanor Hibbert's many pen names. She was born Eleanor Burford in London in 1906. She took odd jobs until she met and married George Hibbert; after that, she had time to write. And write she did, producing over 200 novels. As Victoria Holt she wrote gothic romances, as Jean Plaidy she wrote historical novels about royalty, and as Philippa Carr she wrote family sagas. She also used four other pseudonyms. She died in 1993.

Today's Inspiration - Henry Van Dyke

 Quote of the Day

"Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."
– Henry Van Dyke

About Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke, the American clergyman and author, is best known for the Christmas story, "The Other Wise Man." He was born in Pennsylvania in 1852. He was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York, taught literature at Princeton, and was U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. His love of nature influenced his spirituality, and he fought to preserve Yellowstone Park. He wrote poetry and essays as well as fiction. Helen Keller called him an architect of happiness. He died in 1933.

Today's Inspiration - Herbert Bayard Swope

Quote of the Day

"I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: Try to please everybody all the time."

– Herbert Bayard Swope

About Herbert Bayard Swope

Herbert Bayard Swope, the colorful, hard-driving American journalist who became famous as a war correspondent and editor of The New York World, was the first writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for reporting. He was born in St. Louis in 1882. He coined the phrase "cold war" as a speechwriter for statesman Bernard Baruch. In his leisure time, he was a brilliant gambler at the track, at cards, and at stocks, and threw lavish parties. He died in 1958.

Today's Inspiration - Etty Hillesum

Quote of the Day

"I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one's inner life. And that too is a deed."
– Etty Hillesum

About Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum, less famous than her contemporary, Anne Frank, lived a short life of great courage. She was born in 1914 in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Russian mother. She studied law, Slavic languages, and psychology. Hungry for knowledge, she cut down on food in order to buy books. She went voluntarily to the Westerbork camp to help fellow Jews interned by the Nazis. Her letters detail her experiences; her more meditative diary focuses on issues of faith. She died at Auschwitz in 1943.

Today's Inspiration - Dag Hammarskjöld

Quote of the Day

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road."
– Dag Hammarskjöld

About Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld, a Noble Peace Prize winner, was a diplomat who strengthened the United Nations' peacekeeping mission. Born in Sweden in 1905, he followed his father's footsteps into national government, where he coined the term "planned economy" before becoming a delegate to the U.N. and a two-time secretary-general. He negotiated the release of Americans captured by the Chinese in the Korean War, worked to resolve the Suez Canal crisis, and was on a mission to the Congo when his plane crashed in 1961, killing all aboard.

Today's Inspiration - Helen Keller

Quote of the Day

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
– Helen Keller

About Helen Keller

American author and activist Helen Keller was born in Alabama in 1880; she became blind and deaf after a childhood fever. When Helen was seven, her teacher, Annie Sullivan, coaxed her out of her sullen, angry shell and taught her to communicate. From then on, Keller took on the world. She graduated from Radcliffe, traveled the world visiting sweatshops and speaking out for the powerless, helped to found the ACLU, and wrote 11 books. She died in 1968.

Inspirational Quotes - Helen Keller

Today's Inspiration - Victoria Holt

Quote of the Day

"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."
– Victoria Holt

About Victoria Holt

Victoria Holt was one of prolific British author Eleanor Hibbert's many pen names. She was born Eleanor Burford in London in 1906. She took odd jobs until she met and married George Hibbert; after that, she had time to write. And write she did, producing over 200 novels. As Victoria Holt she wrote gothic romances, as Jean Plaidy she wrote historical novels about royalty, and as Philippa Carr she wrote family sagas. She also used four other pseudonyms. She died in 1993.