Every now and then I need to play Stuart Smalley for myself and keep my spirits up about writing and, well, life.

This is my favorite pin. It was a gift from dear friend who’s no longer with us:

“Cheerfully slogging our way to greatness.”

This is on a doily hand-made by my friend Katy Cooper which sits on my desk. It’s a cherry slogan, picked up from Jenny Crusie and the JenniferCrusieFans yahoo group some time back.

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, anybody could do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

League of Their Own.

“You know, if you don’t want to run again, I respect that.  But if you don’t run ’cause you think it’s gonna be too hard or you think you’re gonna lose – well, God, Jed, I don’t even want to know you.”

The West Wing.

“It’s an impossible job.”

“That happens sometimes.”

–Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

“Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards.”

Bujold again, this time in A Civil Campaign

“No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.”

Eleanor Roosevelt.

And I can’t make a list like this without including something from the Princess Bride. I use this one when I’m having trouble figuring out exactly how to say something.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

What are your favorites?