One hundred and 10 years ago on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss, the beloved children's book author and illustrator, was born in Springfield Massachusetts. His brewmaster father and mother who loved reciting rhymes to her children to lull them to sleep, named their baby son Theodor Seuss Geisel. But in college, he changed it to Dr. Seuss.
Dr. Seuss, didn't find writing success easily. In fact, his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, was rejected by 27 publishers. It was finally published in 1937 when Dr. Seuss was 33. In fact, he was all ready to burn the manuscript but his former Dartmouth classmate-turned-publisher purchased the rights to the book.
Dr. Seuss went on to illustrate and write 44 children's books like Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who!, Oh, the Places You'll Go and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He won won Academy awards, a Peabody and the Pulitzer Prize. And his books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have sold 600 million copies worldwide.
Dr. Seuss passed away in 1991 when he was 87, but his work continues to inspire. Here are some of his most beloved quotes.
1. "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
2. "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is your than you."
3. "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
4. "A person's a person, no matter how small."
5. "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"
6. "Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
7. "Maybe Christmas.." he thought "Doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
8. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go."
9. "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"
10. "You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."
11. "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!"
12. "Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory."
13."You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So get on your way!"
For more of Jeryl Brunner's stories, read her regular column in Parade online.
Correction: A previous version of this post said it was the 100th anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birth.