Much of what we consider valuable in our world arises out of (these) one-sided conflicts. Because the act of facing overwhelming odds, produces greatness and beauty.

— Malcolm Gladwell

A high school student wrote to ask, 'What was the greatest event in American history?' I can't say. However, I suspect that like so many 'great' events, it was something very simple and very quiet with little or no fanfare (such as someone forgiving someone else for a deep hurt that eventually changed the course of history). The really important 'great' things are never center stage of life's dramas; they're always 'in the wings'. That's why it's so essential for us to be mindful of the humble and the deep rather than the flashy and the superficial.

— Fred Rogers

On athleticism, God knows no favor. It seems rather he is in the business of teaching winners how to lose and losers how to win.

— Criss Jami

Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.

— Malcolm Gladwell

It's the duty of every man to free himself. Never accept to live an underdog's life in god’s world.

— Bangambiki Habyarimana

Every revolution starts with the aim to help the poor, but when the poor get it they forget who they were and become the new oppressors. The cycle goes on forever.

— Bangambiki Habyarimana

It doesn't matter if you're born in a duck yard, so long as you are hatched from a swan's egg!

— Hans Christian Andersen

I only seem negative to the fortunate. That's because I show the less fortunate that they aren't less fortunate after all.

— Criss Jami

I've wandered through the real world, and written myself through the darkness of the streets inside me. I see people walking through the city and wonder where they've been, and what the moments of their lives have done to them. If they're anything like me, their moments have held them up and shot them down.Sometimes I just survive.But sometimes I stand on the rooftop of my existence, arms stretched out, begging for more.That's when the stories show up in me.They find me all the time.They're made of underdogs and fighters. They're made of hunger and desire and trying to live decent.The only trouble is, I don't know which of those stories comes first.Maybe they all just merge into one.We'll see, I guess.I'll let you know when I decide.

— Markus Zusak

Let no one ever intimidate you, you are standing on no one's ground. But again, some have claimed the earth as their own and usurped power from the rest of us. But they are usurpers; power belongs to every one of us. Seek it as much as possible. There is no shame in that. In fact it's a necessity. Either you have power or you are trampled to death in the stampede to get to the top.

— Bangambiki Habyarimana