It is all too easy to become weighed down by the regrets, losses, or difficult memories of the past. But, as business and leadership expert Gayle Carson insists here, we can’t let the past define us. This quote reminds us that we have the power to overcome old patterns and pain in order to create the life we want and deserve. Where we have been does not dictate where we are going, and with determination and positivity, we can chart a new course for ourselves at any time in our lives.

Author Ann Patchett's self-inspired essay "What Now?" — the work in which these reaffirming words appear — offers hope to those who find themselves at a crossroads. Patchett describes being thrust into many unfamiliar situations but finding fulfillment throughout those unexpected journeys, much like many of the characters endured in "Bel Canto," a gritty yet tender novel for which she received critical acclaim. This quote is a reminder that our path in life is always changing, and curveballs can offer some of our greatest lessons and joys. While we may set out to accomplish certain goals, there's no greater tool than having an open mind and a willingness to accept wherever the road may take us.

Patti Smith, dubbed the “punk poet laureate,” first became known for her music, but she also lets her creative impulses flow out in prose and poetry. (She won the 2010 National Book Award for her sublimely touching memoir "Just Kids.") For Smith, creative expression is a way to deal with life, a type of therapy, providing a release that can turn a negative into something positive. Echoing the philosopher Alain de Botton, who said that “art holds out the promise of inner wholeness,” Smith has described imagination and creativity as “more important than material things. They are the things that we should magnify.” Smith believes that every human being has a creative impulse. Whatever form it takes, we all have the right to exercise that impulse, and feel its benefit in times of strife.