In 1904, “Brown Book Magazine” held a contest in which they asked readers to define success. When Kansas woman Bessie Anderson Stanley submitted her answer, she likely never dreamed her words would someday be misattributed to famed authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Robert Louis Stevenson. In the poem Stanley submitted, she highlighted appreciation of nature, kindness toward others, and having “left the world better than [one] found it” as tenets of a successful life. Stanley’s words ground us in what is truly important, and they continue to resonate more than a century later.

Helen Keller knew more than her fair share of hardships. After a series of illnesses, she lost her sight and hearing before her second birthday. Instead of letting her struggles define her, Keller became famous for her unique ability to overcome. Her first teacher, Anne Sullivan, introduced her to language and taught Keller how to read and write. Keller later qualified for Radcliffe College of Harvard University, where she became the first deaf and blind person to receive a college diploma in the United States. As she often said, she found happiness in life by facing adversity with remarkable hope and optimism.