If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

– Henry David Thoreau

40 enchanting pictures from Connecticut’s past

This collection of pictures reveals a side of Connecticut that many have never seen.

Beautifully restored map of Queens, New York from 1918

Historic overview of the Borough of Queens, New York from 1918

How an 11 year old girl convinced Abe Lincoln to grow his beard

Abraham Lincoln was clean shaven his entire life until he received a letter from 11 year old…

Colorized and Restored Map of Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1880

Historic bird’s eye view of Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1880

A boy stands in a hurricane shelter in Utuado, Puerto Rico

Utuado, Puerto Rico (vicinity). Hurricane shelter near the house of a farm laborer.