Artist and activist Ai Weiwei possesses a restless energy, one that fuels his creative work and social activism. Throughout the 2000s, for hours every day, Weiwei channeled that energy into writing in his blog, sharing criticisms of the Chinese government, social commentary, and the principles behind his work. One of his strongest convictions was that we must make mistakes in order to continue to learn. Time and again, in interviews and writings, Weiwei has stressed this idea — that what’s important is not whether we fall down, but that we pick ourselves back up. Only then can we turn information into knowledge.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore inspired a generation of women with her groundbreaking television characters that interwove feminism into mainstream pop culture. Moore's work on the timeless and culturally significant "Mary Tyler Moore Show" — in which she portrayed a single, career-oriented news producer working in a male-dominated environment — revolutionized TV roles for women and challenged society’s restrictive gender norms. Her quote here speaks to fictional and real-life trailblazers alike, whose paths are often riddled with harrowing pitfalls. Luck and complacency may be nice and easy on a personal level, but the ability to overcome adversity has the real power to influence others in a meaningful and life-changing way.

In the Warsaw Ghetto of Nazi-occupied Poland, 21-year-old Helen Fagin defied the fascist regime by secretly teaching Jewish children mathematics, Latin, and the transportive wonders of literature. After smuggling in a copy of “Gone With the Wind,” Fagin recounted the story of Scarlett O’Hara to her enraptured class. In a letter penned more than 75 years later, Fagin reflected on the power of hope and dreams, recalling how she was forever touched by the way the gripping tale was able to free her young students from the horrors of their reality.