Da Rulez:

1. Thou shalt thank the person who nominated you:  Thank you, Addy!
2. Thou shalt nominate three other bloggers with each post, no more, no less.
   Three shall be the number thou shalt nominate, and the number of the nominating shall be three.
   Four shalt thou not nominate, nor either nominate thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.
   Five is right out.
   OH! Sorry, I got carried away…
   Um, I don’t actually know many bloggers, so y’all are it:
   Periodically Demented at:  http://p33d33.wordpress.com/
   Thumbup at:  http://livelovelaughdotme2.com/
   Addy at:  https://adamskistoryblog.wordpress.com/
   And honestly? I don’t really feel you need to respond. It’s fun if you do, but I know we all have lives, and sometimes we might want to post something else, or nothing if we want, so there!
3. Thou shalt post 3 of thy favorite quotes each per day for 3 recurrent days.
   So endeth the lesson.

So, the quotes for today? Okay, let’s go with some of my favorites:

1. Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass. — Anton Chekhov
   This is my most absolute favoritest of all favorite quotes on writing. MUCH clearer than the usual “show, don’t tell” you usually get. I think it is the best advice for writers, and that if a writer only follows this one piece of advice their writing cannot help but become their best possible.
   Because of something I once wrote, this quote always makes me think of Kristallnacht. Of fires burning in the streets, of shattered windows and shards of glass reflecting an angry glitter, of the smell of fear. Of frightened people hiding behind bolted doors or scuttling down alleys like furtive rats with the sound of heavy boots and cruel laughter echoing in their ears. But always, always, the sight of broken glass seen from the viewpoint of someone lying broken on the street looking for one last glimpse of their dying lover.
   Maybe I’ll post that story sometime.
2. Unexpressed emotions never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways. — Sigmund Freud
   I know this for a fact. If you don’t let it out somehow, you will end up sick, or with some kind of behavioral quirk, or try to take it out on someone. Or end up an alcoholic or drug abuser or someone who self harms. What you feel WILL show up somehow. Cancer, ulcers (mine), or misery. Find someone to talk to, even if it’s just a letter to Dear Abby. But let it out!
   Just as an FYI, I’m a really good listener. That’s an open invitation, there. Any one, any time.
   My goodness, I’m grim today. Let’s see if I can find something not so much of a downer for #3.
3. Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end. — unknown
   I really do believe this. Despite how negative my quotes seem to be, I actually am a positive person. I’m just also a realist. I recognize how difficult life can be, how dark and discouraging. But I also believe that we have the capacity to make a difference — in our own lives, and in the lives of others.
   I also believe that we have the responsibility to try to make that difference, even if all we can do is toss a quarter in the Salvation Army pot at Christmas, or smile at someone who seems down. But whatever we can do, we should do it. In fact, that reminds me of my school motto (or prayer, or whatever the heck they called it then, It’s 44 years ago, cut me some slack!).

   I am only one, but I am one.
   I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
   What I can do, I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.

   Okay, not so much the religious part of it — no longer a Catholic or even a Christian now — but the rest of it? Absolutely.
   I also believe that we are stronger than we think we are, and that if we think we are weak still we are stronger for others than for ourselves. That is an underlying theme of the stories I write; that each of my characters may or may not feel able to stand up for themselves, but when another is threatened they find that strength. (Which I just realized just now. Am I smart, or what?)

   OH! And I know just EXACTLY what tomorrow’s quote will be! Only one, but it’s a long one. Trust me on this, it’ll be worth it, and it will show you so much more about who I am and what I believe in.