Wendelin Van Draanen Quotes

You can give men food and leisure and amusements and good conditions of work, and still they will remain unsatisfied. You can deny them all these things, and they will not complain so long as they feel that they have something to die for.

And we need things in life that are exciting and inspiring. It can't just be about solving some awful problem. There have to be reasons to get up in the morning.

But if one had everything one could ever need or want, what was left to dream of?

Information doesn't mean a thing to people without inspiration.

Oscar Wilde once said that to live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that's all. I don't know if he's right, but I do know that I spend a long time existing, and now, I intend to live.

We obviously feel destiny and purpose and do what we do, but within that are ways to help others and to inspire others and to support and encourage people.

I realize that people need something to believe in.

In my view, I am often immensely rich, not in money, but (although just now perhaps not all the time) rich because I have found my metier, something I can devote myself to heart and soul and that gives inspiration and meaning to my life.

Art is only a means to life, the life more abundant. It merely points the way.

No sooner had he thought this than he realized what was anchoring his happiness. It was purpose. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew the way he thought things should be, and Mr. Harinton was proving that other people--even adults--could feel the same way. Nicholas had something to aim for now. He might not know what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he knew with absolute certainty how he wanted to be.

I question and soul-search constantly into myself to be as certain as I can that I am fulfilling the true meaning of my work, that I am maintaining my sense of purpose, that I am holding fast to my ideals, that I am guiding my people in the right direction.

If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self interest.

When people are serving, life is no longer meaningless.

By the time you establish your priorities, there really isn't any fun or need to interest yourself in what you're doing. And this I find disastrous.

I got addicted to lighting people up, just seeing people so happy 'cause they rediscovered what they're capable of and so that became my life's work.

Everybody needs four things in life: Something to do, someone to love, someone to believe in and something to hope for.

Enthusiasm gives life to what is invisible; and interest to what has no immediate action on our comfort in this world.

Of all the unhappy people in the world, the unhappiest are those who have not found something they want to do.

The world needs more than just itself. Amid the dreariness, people do not need a distraction that will in the end become dreary itself; they are asking for mystery, even if they do not realize this themselves. They need the sign of the wholly Other, the living Word of God, entering into this our age in unadulterated trustworthiness and dynamism.

What we most need in our lives, though, is something worth doing, worth it because we care.

It's not something you can find. There's a moment you arrive at --- there's no words for it. A bunch of people come together at this place where a note hits your heart and your brain tells your finger where to go. It's an otherworldly thing, like when a painter gets the right combination of colors together.

I am a great believer in what we've been told time and time again by people like Joseph Campbell, "find your bliss." Find out what it is that touches you most deeply. Pursue it, learn about it, explore it, expand on it. Live with it and nurture it. Find your own way and make your own contribution. Find a way to make a contribution to this society because God knows we need contributions from the coming generation. This planet and this civilization is in need. I see it as a time of need.

The need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence, and contribution.

One need ask only 'What for? What am I to unify my being for?' The reply is: Not for my own sake.

I know what things are good: friendship and work and conversation. These I shall have.