"I attribute my success to sheer determination and defiance. Every single time someone told me that I couldn't do something, or I simply wasn't good enough, I worked twice as hard, turning the roadblocks of discouragement into inspiration." —Thomas Slatin

  "To portray ourselves as successful, making public only our successes, while shrouding our failures, is the story and detriment of us all." —Thomas Slatin

"Everything in life begins and ends, then ends and then begins again. The finite time between beginning and the end is precious, and often taken for granted." —Thomas Slatin

"As far as I am concerned, writing and photography is a comforting, almost spiritual experience for me." —Thomas Slatin

"Sometimes the sheer ugliness of decay can become beautiful through photography." —Thomas Slatin

"I never thought that in my life I would have become successful. Never did it occur to me that one day I would become an influencer; a person whom would be asked what specific camera they used most often, or the brand of notebook they filled with handwritten prose." —Thomas W.P. Slatin, Desideratum

"To embrace my talents and be revered, or to deny myself my gifts and fade into obscurity was a pivotal decision I had to make a long time ago." —Thomas Slatin

"My writing is best described in days; yesterday my writing was superior, today it feels sub-par, and tomorrow I will regret my decision to become a writer at all. Yet, I feel as if my personal writing journey never ends." —Thomas W.P. Slatin

"I love writing though I dislike discussing what I have published; these are my words, and what I have written is plain to see." —Thomas Slatin

"I've never built any skyscrapers. I've never written any amazing novels or created any tremendous medical breakthroughs, but when I look at all of you, you are my skyscrapers, my amazing stories, my forever breakthroughs. I have poured out my life's energies into those classrooms of our school, and in looking at all of you, seeing your happiness and knowing both what you have become and what you are becoming, you have given my life its meaning. I thank you all." —William Parsons

"A novice writer will simply place their words upon a page, whereas a master will have an insatiable need to experience the emotions attached to them." —Thomas Slatin

"How do you stop the rush of water when you open a flood gate? You cannot, you must let the water run its course." —Thomas W.P. Slatin

  "As humans, if our similarities carried more weight than our differences, the world would know peace." —Thomas Slatin

"Much more can be learned simply by looking beyond the surface." —Thomas W.P. Slatin

"I avenged those who swore I'd never make something of myself by becoming more successful then them." —Thomas Slatin