 | Right may not be expedient, it may not be profitable, but it will satisfy your soul. — Maya Angelou |  |
| People struggle their whole lives to understand who they are and what they can do, and to accept what they can’t. It's one of the great human stories — Lev Grossman | |
Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.
* Catching up with the Reader-in-Chief: Newsweek presents every book the president has read while in office in handy illustrated form. (The Daily Beast)
* Comedian Andy Samberg channels McEnroe, Borg, Agassi and other tennis greats for The New York Times Magazine this weekend, and this behind-the-scenes video shows how he got into character. (NYTimes.com)
* "So frustrating because, if [you were outed], there was no ability to assume that your record stood for itself. All of a sudden there was this mystical discovery that made your record go into the trash." As Don't Ask Don't Tell comes to an end, GQ's Chris Heath interviews gay service members, and the results are fascinating and heartbreaking. (GQ)
* Are you ready to meet the perfect groom? This guy surprised his girlfriend with a proposal and her dream wedding on the same day. (Glamour.com)
* "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."—Jack Layton, a Canadian politician who died of cancer this week at the age of 61, in a letter to his country. (CBC)
| Photo: New York Times Magazine |
* Comedian Andy Samberg channels McEnroe, Borg, Agassi and other tennis greats for The New York Times Magazine this weekend, and this behind-the-scenes video shows how he got into character. (NYTimes.com)
* "So frustrating because, if [you were outed], there was no ability to assume that your record stood for itself. All of a sudden there was this mystical discovery that made your record go into the trash." As Don't Ask Don't Tell comes to an end, GQ's Chris Heath interviews gay service members, and the results are fascinating and heartbreaking. (GQ)
* Are you ready to meet the perfect groom? This guy surprised his girlfriend with a proposal and her dream wedding on the same day. (Glamour.com)
* "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."—Jack Layton, a Canadian politician who died of cancer this week at the age of 61, in a letter to his country. (CBC)
| Suddenly I awake to a stark amazement at everything. ... To be alive is so incredible that all I can do is to lie still and merely breathe. — W.N.P. Barbellion | |
| The motto should not be 'Forgive one another,' rather 'Understand one another.' — Emma Goldman | |
| People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing. — John Porter | |
Every Monday,
we're rounding up things—small and big—that made us stop and think.
Today, we were inspired by a photographer who spoke out against teen
bullying, a trio of actresses vowing not to "give in" to plastic
surgery, and more...
"I will never give in. [Plastic surgery] goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty."
Kate Winslet, who with Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz founded the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League, an informal alliance against the pressure to get plastic surgery (via Jezebel)
"50 percent of happiness comes from your genes. Only 10 percent comes from life conditions like income, race and physical attractiveness; and 40 percent from your activities and relationships."
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, who is making a movie about what makes people happy
"If you are ugly on the inside, I’m sorry but I won’t take your photos to make you look pretty on the outside!"
Pennsylvania photographer Jennifer McKendrick, who refused to take photos of teen bullies (via Huffington Post)
"I never admitted that the country [my husband] loved existed only in his imagination, or that I could not find a moment of peace in Qaddafi's shadow, or that his family's desperate generosity filled me with sadness. I never told Ismail that under Qaddafi his homeland had become a prison, and that as long as he was in power, I never wanted to return."
Krista Bremer writing in the July issue of O about visiting her Libyan in-laws in pre-revolutionary Tripoli
"Seven races in 11 weeks.....I wasn’t running for medals or gift certificates or free shoes. I ran because the courses were there, friends were there, the finish line was there."
Jen A. Miller, on learning to appreciate the run as much as the race
"I will never give in. [Plastic surgery] goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty."
Kate Winslet, who with Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz founded the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League, an informal alliance against the pressure to get plastic surgery (via Jezebel)
"50 percent of happiness comes from your genes. Only 10 percent comes from life conditions like income, race and physical attractiveness; and 40 percent from your activities and relationships."
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, who is making a movie about what makes people happy
"If you are ugly on the inside, I’m sorry but I won’t take your photos to make you look pretty on the outside!"
Pennsylvania photographer Jennifer McKendrick, who refused to take photos of teen bullies (via Huffington Post)
"I never admitted that the country [my husband] loved existed only in his imagination, or that I could not find a moment of peace in Qaddafi's shadow, or that his family's desperate generosity filled me with sadness. I never told Ismail that under Qaddafi his homeland had become a prison, and that as long as he was in power, I never wanted to return."
Krista Bremer writing in the July issue of O about visiting her Libyan in-laws in pre-revolutionary Tripoli
"Seven races in 11 weeks.....I wasn’t running for medals or gift certificates or free shoes. I ran because the courses were there, friends were there, the finish line was there."
Jen A. Miller, on learning to appreciate the run as much as the race
| I believe how I act today will affect the way I am tomorrow. — Katherine Hepburn | |
| I believe how I act today will affect the way I am tomorrow. — Katherine Hepburn | |
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about Life Lift
The Oprah blog is a place where you can find engaging news coverage, fresh inspiration, and the straight talk you've come to count on. A place that
provides the tools you need to make a change—if not in the world—then at
least in your little corner of it. It's a place that will raise your energy, lower your blood pressure and
occasionally make you laugh—in short, a place of possibility.
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