This began as a personal project to move simple thoughts out of my mind by putting them down on paper.

Thoughts stem from quotations that have had an impact in my life. I wish to say in a simple sentence how I perceive them. For many this would be an easy task, but I struggle with English, words don’t flow, they get stuck, they don’t say what I want them to say and often come out sounding rather simple. As a child I struggled with English, I’m pretty sure it was dyslexia (but it didn’t exist in my day). I consequently failed English ‘O’ level at school.

"Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again."

Vincent Van Gogh

Quotations share pages with my photographs. On most pages I attempt to loosely link an image to one of the quotations on the page to aid memory. I spent twenty-five years working overseas. Images stem from the enchanting chaos of Bangkok to the wonderful serenity of the African safari. Quotations are from times past and include Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt. Some are Latin Proverbs. Many are from Scripture. The book has a quotation and brief reflection for every day of the year to stimulate reaffirming thoughts at the beginning or end of each day. Alternatively, each month has a different theme to help the reader find quotations for a particular area of concern.

Interestingly, old quotations reflect modern life and show today’s struggles are nothing new. These quotations serve as a collective reminder to words we often hear, but which tend to go in one ear and out the other.

Recently Google's UK 10th most popular 'how to' question was, "How to accept myself for who I am?" This book was originally written for my own enjoyment - but, I do hope the collective wisdom guides your thoughts and helps answer