“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” —Viktor Frankl

Winter, for me, is a period of reflection and regeneration, of withdrawal, reminiscent of a time when humans were forced to be more malleable and responsive to the seasons. Each year, I long to see the landscape around my home in Germany transformed by the cold: frost-limned trees, crisp air, and snow shrouding everything, muffling every sound, as if covering over the acoustic evidence of humanity. —Bernd Brunner, Aeon

“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“In the game of life and evolution there are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines. I am firmly on the side of nature. But nature, I suspect, is on the side of the machines.” —George Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines

“You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.” —Marcus Aurelius

“If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible—for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.” —Marcus Aurelius

“If you understand each other, you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” —John Steinbeck

“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, ‘What else could this mean?’” —Shannon L. Alder

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.” —Chinese proverb

“Knowing comes from learning, finding from seeking.” —Vaddey Ratner