Fred Rogers provided us with observations and insights that can influence how well we handle life’s challenges. His comforting philosophy is a resource that influences my work.

Everyone is creative, but each of us expresses creativity differently.  Being creative is part of being human. It helps us deal with life’s problems.

If you combine your inner talent with the hard work required to develop it, you can become a true artist.

The root of all science and art is the gap between what the world is like and what we wish it to be like.

We all have only one life on earth, with a choice to demean it or cherish it in creative and imaginative ways.

Each person is a unique human being with potential. An important task in life is to discover the unique potential in ourselves and others.

Anything that is human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be managed.

Transitions are usually signs of growth, but to get somewhere new, we may have to leave somewhere else behind.

When you are at the end of something, you may be at the start of something else.

It’s your self that is important, not what you know, or own or can do.  It’s your self that is likable and means so much to others.  You make every day special for others just because you are who you are.

You should be who you are at this moment, not what somebody thinks you should be.

We should expect to bring the whole of ourselves to those people who care about us.

The loving spirit at the center of the universe knows our great potential and will never give up on any one of us.

Seek solitude every day by sitting alone for half an hour in a quiet place.

If we want to rid ourselves of personal emptiness, loneliness and fear; we will have to allow room to believe in that which we cannot see, touch or control.

A major loss that one must deal with is the loss of the image of oneself as a perfect person.

If we allow ourselves to accept our feelings, we have a chance of discovering the roots of who we are.

Someone else’s action need not determine your response, which should come from the compassion and love within you.

No matter what you wear on the outside, you are still yourself on the inside.

You are a very special person because there is only one like you in the whole world. And people can like you exactly as you are.

No one is perfect yet everyone is unique.  We always have the opportunity to make what is unique about us bloom.

We each have unique gifts, so we each have our own way to tell the world who we are.

Each person is much more than any one thing.  A sick person is more than the sickness.  A boss is more than a person in power.

Even a weakness is redeemable and can become something good.

The most essential element of any creation is love.

Don’t worry that you are less flashy than others.  Think of yourself as the grain of sand in an oyster.

Don’t think that what you do is more important than what you are.  What you are will determine what you do.

It’s the brief quiet moments in the midst of life that can give the rest of the time extra-special meaning.

Freeing your imagination will help you find your true identity.

It may be necessary for parents to allow children to pull away from the family for a while to find their own healthy identity.

You are rare and valuable.  You have something unique inside you that no one else has, or ever will have.

It is worth the struggle to discover who you really are and how you can best contribute to others.

As you grow, you’ll find new ways of expressing love and you’ll discover the many ways that others express their love for you.

You don’t have to be lovely to be loved.

We don’t get to be competent human beings without a lot of help from others.

The most important element of a mature relationship is just being there for each other to listen and share, and to be happy or sad.

We feel loss and pain in separation.  But life goes on one way or another, even when those we love are beyond our sight.

Every human being has value.  It is an honor to look for what is good about others.

A person’s roots are deep.  Really knowing a person requires understanding what that person has done, suffered and believes.

The most important part of communicating is listening.

We speak with more than our mouths.  We listen with more than our ears.

It is important to give up the impossible goal of perfection in everything. You are perfectly loveable without being perfect.

It’s possible to have both love and success, but love must come first.  It’s that simple and that difficult.

Feeling good about you is a prerequisite for loving others.

Possessions cannot bring us ultimate happiness.
In order to grow, a person must be loved and appreciated for what he is now rather than what he will be.

Be sensitive to your “neighbor”.  If you are trusted, he may give you the gift of sharing his inner self.

Our ability to accept help is inseparable from our ability to give help when we are strong.

Tomorrow will belong to those with the greatest hope.

To be independent, one must not only master new skills, but also learn to form meaningful relationships with other people.

The most important part of learning is not acquiring a new skill, but rather mastering the traits of patience and persistence, and the ability to accept mistakes and disappointment.

We don’t always succeed in what we try, but what matters most is the willingness to keep trying.It’s not possible to always be a winner, but we must always keep trying.