Laurie Frankel: "We've always been living a fairy tale..."

 "We've always been living a fairy tale... From the moment we met. From the moments before we met. we have this perfect love story. we have this love story that feels like a fairy tale and must be because how else to explain something so magical? But the problem with fairy tales is that they end, and quickly too. The lead-up is everything. Then you get transformation, love, and happily-ever-after all in one breath. That story's nice, but it's not big enough to hold us. There's no room for the hard parts. There's no room for the transformations and the loves that come next and next and next. You know what's even better than happy endings? Happy middles. All the happy with none of the finality. All the happy with room enough to grow."

- from This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Unknown: "There will always be..."

"There will always be a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or you're the one that will change theirs."

—Unknown

Margaret Mead: "A small group of..."

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

—Margaret Mead

John Adams: "The Revolution was effected..."

"The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."

—John Adams (as quoted in Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky)

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "The building is a..."

"The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people blowing up a building can change the world." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "You really think blowing..."

EVEY: You really think blowing up Parliament's going to make this country a better place?
V: There's no certainty, only opportunity.
EVEY: I think you can be pretty certain that if anyone does show up, Creedy will black bag every one of them.
V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
EVEY: And you're going to make that happen by blowing up a building?
V: The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people blowing up a building can change the world.

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V and Evey in "V for Vendetta"

Buckminster Fuller: "You never change things..."

Steve Jobs: "Here's to the crazy ones..."

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

—Steve Jobs

Ernst Fischer: "In a decaying society..."

"In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it."

—Ernst Fischer

Elizabeth Gilbert: "The only thing marriage..."

"The only thing marriage has ever done, historically and definitionally speaking, is to change. Marriage in the Western world changes with every century, adjusting itself constantly around new social standards and new notions of fairness. The "Silly Putty-like" malleability of the institution, in fact, is the only reason we still have the thing at all. Marriage survives, in other words, precisely because it evolves."

—Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed

Reinhold Niebuhr: "God, grant me the..."

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

—Reinhold Niebuhr