“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

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Widely attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson on the internet (often by me), this actually originated from “What is Success?” by Bessie Anderson Stanley in Heart Throbs Volume Two (1911)

P.S. I still love it and it guides me every day.