Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams

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

Source: Walden, David Henry Thoreau
Image: Nicholas Raymond (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Quote: KNOWOL (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Helen Keller on taking action to build confidence

Our will to act becomes vigorous in proportion to the frequency and definiteness of our actions…

Beautiful old map of Henniker, New Hampshire from 1889

This old map shows Henniker, New Hampshire in the late 19th century.

Old map showing a bird’s eye view of Mansfield, Mass in 1879

This old map shows Mansfield, Massachusetts when only 2,700 people lived there.

Beautifully detailed map of Westport, CT from 1878

Detailed bird’s eye view of Westport, Connecticut in 1878

Map of Texas and Loyal Colonies, sometimes referred to as the United States

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Beautifully detailed map of Blairstown, NJ from 1883

Detailed bird’s eye view of Blairstown, NJ from 1883

Vintage Property Map of Easton, Connecticut from 1867

This vintage landowners map of Easton, Connecticut was created in 1867 by Frederick W. Beers. a prominent 19th century map maker. Beers was a prominent American map maker and publisher during the 19th century. He began his career as a civil engineer and surveyor, and later established the firm of F.W. Beers, A.D. Ellis & Co. in 1866.