Refrigerators can tell stories about character.

Inside, the selection of food defines nutritious lifestyles, but you can find the love of family through photographs taped to the outside with a child’s coloring book picture or a scribbled drawing pinned to the door with a magnet. The “to do” list might be there, too, or some upcoming dates to remember.

Since I’m a lover of words, I like to place favorite quotes upon my refrigerator doors, inspirational messages, funny phrases or language I like to live by.

If I could own a refrigerator the size of two-story building, I’d decorate the doors with the power of many of the best quotes ever said and written. Here are some of my favorites:

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” — Marilyn Monroe

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching. Love like you’ll never be hurt. Sing like there’s nobody listening and live like it’s heaven on earth.” — William W. Purkey

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“Don’t walk in front of me … I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me. I may not lead. Walk beside me … just be my friend.” — Albert Camus

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare

“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” — Allen Saunders

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” — Bill Keane

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” — Pablo Neruda

“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well.” — Mark Twain

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” — Albert Einstein

“Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.” — Garrison Keillor

“Everything you can imagine is real.” — Pablo Picasso

“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” — Woody Allen

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” — Bob Marley

“Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.” — Paul Terry

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me ... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” — Shel Silverstein

“Find something you love and let it kill you.” — Charles Bukowski

Just for fun, here are a few of my own:

“If you’re fishing for answers to questions and you’re catching nothing, you’re using the wrong bait.”

“Life is a race to the finish line, and those who come in last are the victors.”

“You lose at the game of love if you play it with your mind. When you win at the game of love, you lose your mind.”

“When you hold my hand, you hold my heart, too.”

Try making your own memorable quotes. The spoken word comes and goes, but the written word remains for a lifetime.

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com