And happiness is not overrated. It is everything.

We’re constantly trying not to get scammed these days. It’s too expensive to do anything. The planet is too hot. The wars are still happening and certain families are still getting rich off of said wars. The world is uninspiring – even downright depressing – if you look at it from a wide angle, but what are we to do in between fighting the good fight? We should celebrate each other. We should remember that we each have something to offer this world. We should – we must – do something for ourselves. And maybe we should put it out there for others. And whatever happens as a result will be such an adventure.  --Yasmin Aliya Khan, Excerpt from "Audacity and Adventure"

https://yazzzzzk.substack.com/p/audacity-and-adventure

“Speak softly and carry a big stick—you will go far.” If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power. In private life there are few things more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting; and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words his position becomes absolutely contemptible. So it is with the nation. It is both foolish and undignified to indulge in undue self-glorification, and above all, in loose-tongued denunciation of other peoples."  --Teddy Roosevelt uttered these words at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901.