“Motivation, creativity and freedom are my most powerful educational tools,” says Cyprus teacher Evanthia Poyiatzi. To sharpen your motivation, creativity and freedom this week, read (and share!) the 15 inspiring ideas and quotes below — handpicked for you by Evanthia and her fellow TED-Ed Innovative Educators:

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. “For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.” — Plutarch

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

“Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai

“We are what we believe we are.” — C.S. Lewis

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.” — Elie Wiesel

“How wonderful it is that we need not wait a single moment before starting to change the world.” — Anne Frank

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — Pablo Picasso

“Dream big, work hard, stay humble.” — Brad Meltzer

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” — H.G. Wells

“Everything you have in life can be taken from you except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. This is what determines the quality of the life we’ve lived — not whether we’ve been rich or poor, famous or unknown, healthy or suffering. What determines our quality of life is how we relate to these realities, what kind of meaning we assign them, what kind of attitude we cling to about them, what state of mind we allow them to trigger.” — Viktor Frankl

“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.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” — Rumi

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Image credit: Igor Coric/TED-Ed

Tags: Creativity, Inspiration, Motivation, Quotes