This thought, presented by the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi, is counterintuitive to most people’s perceptions of leadership. Laozi believed that to be the kind of leader people want to follow, you have to have a solid understanding of who you are leading, and that knowledge is best obtained from a position of service rather than of command. This quote suggests that by putting the needs of those under your care above your own, you can better serve them — and if you know how to serve them better, you will become a better leader.

It’s no wonder Sylvia Plath became a poet; she’d been keeping daily diaries and journals since she was a child. This particular quote comes from the journals Plath kept during her time at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She was grappling with the decision of going to summer school at Harvard for a writing course she wished to take, or heading home for the season. Ultimately she decided to go home, noting, “Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.” Not going to Harvard wouldn’t hurt her creativity, she figured, as long as she didn’t doubt her own abilities.

With these words from her 2014 memoir “Yes Please,” comedian and Emmy Award-winning actress Amy Poehler encourages us to take on challenges, even when they feel daunting. Poehler — who co-founded the influential Upright Citizens Brigade before moving on to “Saturday Night Live” and later starring in NBC’s beloved sitcom “Parks and Recreation” — is certainly qualified to give advice about ambition. She goes on to suggest that “doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that — that's what life is.”

At the age of 16, in 1869, Vincent van Gogh left his home in the Netherlands to work with his uncle, an art dealer who was traveling between London and Paris. The work gave him access to some of the greatest artists of his time, but Van Gogh himself didn’t begin creating art until 1880, just 10 years before his death. In that time he created over 800 paintings and 700 drawings, establishing a unique style that would, posthumously, make him a household name. Though he only sold one piece of work in his life, he is widely considered one of the greatest painters of the 19th century.