Modesty is related to diffidence, diffidence is related to shyness, Shyness is a synonym for timidity, timidity is a characteristic of the meek, the meek do not inherit the Earth, they serve those who are self confident and self assertive.

The wives of Spartans are the secret pillars of the world."--Odd Thomas

A short-order cook, just off work, makes easy tracking for lions and worse

Nothing gives us courage more readily than the desire to avoid looking like a damn fool.

Only the human spirit can act with volition and consciously change itself; it is the only thing in all creation that is not entirely at the mercy of forces outside itself.

I realized you might make money at writing, and you might even make a living at it. So after that I didn't write stories just for the class but wrote them for the purpose of submitting them somewhere, and at some point in the process, I began writing them just to please myself and that's where you begin to see the real value of a life of writing.

Life's mysterious, strange, and full of wonders - and only a fool withdraws from it willingly and lets it pass him by.