"Great Expectations" -Charles Dickens

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

I read "Great Expectations" when I was 15 or 16 and I remember that this quotation immediately jumped out at me. (Perhaps it was because Dickens explicitly implored me to stop and pay attention to this line, but I'll give my high school self the benefit of the doubt.) I didn't have the appreciation or understanding of Dickens that I do now after spending four years studying English literature, but I knew that this was important. Any one day can change the course of your life, for better or worse, until you wind up exactly where you are supposed to be. I have thought of this quote often over the years and always wonder where my chain of thorns and flowers will take me next.