Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: Chicken, pork, beef, or seafood? I have them all in the refrigerator, but can’t decide what I’m in the mood for. -Hangry in New Hampshire
Hangry in New Hampshire: Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it.
Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: This fall, my 14-year old starts her freshman year of high school. I’m not that great at words of wisdom. What should I say to her on her first day? You gotta help me out. -Flummoxed in Fairbanks
Dear Flummoxed in Fairbanks: Oh, certainly; glad to. “Let others be as butterflies who preen their wings and yet depend upon the charity of a flower for life.”
Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: I’m considering taking up surfing, since my therapist recommended it as a stress-reliever. There’s only one problem: I’m fucking terrified of seas, oceans, and lakes. Help! -Aquaphobic in Antigua
Dear Aquaphobic in Antigua: Drops of water, by continually falling, hone their passage through the hardest of rocks but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind.
Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: What are the circumstances under which you write these columns? Set the scene for your readers; ease us into your world. -Curious in Cedar Rapids
Dear Curious in Cedar Rapids: Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealously, and envy.
Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: Does life ever frighten you? Do you ever find yourself paralyzed by self-doubt and uncertainty about the future? -Tense in Tampa
Dear Tense in Tampa: Today will never happen again. Failure is the highway to success; the slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
Dear Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes: Just once, I need someone, somewhere, to gently take my hand, gaze into my eyes, and say “you are special.” -Bereft in Buffalo
Dear Bereft in Buffalo: You are special.
—Ask a Collection of Inspirational Og Mandino Quotes is a syndicated column that appears in 50,000 newspapers worldwide.