Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on inspiration

The heights by great men reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat. Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.

Carl Sagan1934–1996Cosmos (1980), p. 4

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.

Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894

• Fear

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.

Pablo Picasso1881–1973

• Work