Tom

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

“boy becomes a man when he chooses to take responsibility for everything in his life. When he owns his problems, and decides to own the good and the bad and commit to becoming better every day.”
― Stefan Aarnio, Hard Times Create Strong Men: Why the World Craves Leadership and How You Can Step Up to Fill the Need

“The Roman regarded his spada simply as an instrument; for the Frank, however, the sword was not simply a token of his manhood but, after the triumph of Christianity, his religion. It was a common practice to include a saint’s relics physically in the hilt of the sword whose very shape reminded its owner of the origin of his religion. That veneration was passed on to all the descendants of the Franks so that the Germans and the French and the English all took the sword as the ultimate symbol of courage and of justice. It even had a personal identity and personal name: Charlemagne was supposed to have bestowed the slightly incongruous name of Joyeuse on his great blade and the sword of Roland would enter legend as Durendal.”
― E.R. Chamberlin, The Emperor Charlemagne

“And there comes a time in your life when you realize that if you don't take the opportunity to be happy, you may never get another chance again.”
― Richard Russo, Empire Falls