With a carefully chosen quote for each day of the year, this book will be a constant source of inspiration, accompanying you through the depths of winter to starry summer nights, and on again to Christmas and the New Year. You’ll encounter lines from novels, short stories, essays, journals, and poems, as well as zen-like meditations, and classic aphorisms.

The quotes come from more than a hundred different authors—including many of the world’s great literary figures. There are quotes to inspire courage: “The thing is—fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream” (William Golding); ignite creativity: “The Possible’s slow fuse is lit/ By the Imagination!” (Emily Dickinson); and enjoin us to action and goodness: “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good” (Marcus Aurelius). You’ll meet more playful inspiration in quotes from Douglas Adams and Dr. Seuss. And we’ve also found room for the kind of mystical reflections that poets such as Wallace Stevens so excelled in composing.

In these quotes you’ll find a wealth of wisdom distilled into a few choice words. But of course, it is not always the full picture—while the main aim of this collection is to offer day-by-day inspiration, we hope it will also be a springboard for discovering new writers. When you are inspired by a writer’s words, we encourage you to seek out the original work, and rediscover the quote in its natural environment. We have rigorously tracked down the source of each quote and attributed it accordingly.

This book was designed to be as easily navigable as possible on your e-reader. To begin, you need only turn to the Contents page and follow the link to the current month. We wish you an inspirational voyage of discovery.