The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

by Robert Dugoni

“Punctuality is a sign of respect for your teacher.”

“Life is about heart. Yours is as big as any kid’s I’ve ever coached. Don’t you ever forget that.” “No, Coach, I won’t.” I left his office with one less dream but somehow feeling like I was seven feet tall.

“Time is wicked. It comes and goes like a thief in the night, stealing our youth, our beauty, and our bodies.”

For some reason, we think our parents will never grow old, perhaps because when they do, we are forced to acknowledge that we will one day grow old, and we face our own mortality.

while the years might not have been extraordinary, as she had so diligently prayed, they had been ours.

the person who had always been there for me, my fiercest advocate since the day I’d been born. “I love you, Mom.”

But to my mother—I suspect to all mothers—their little boys will always be their little boys, no matter how old those boys become.

“So you gave up soda?” “And red meat. My roommate’s a vegan, but I’m not going there. She doesn’t shave her legs or her armpits, either.” “Please don’t go there,” I said.

There are moments, I believe, when we are capable of communicating with those we love without using our voices,

The strangest part was that I realized that by forgiving them all, I had forgiven myself.

“Come close,” she said. “I want to see the eyes that looked up at me the moment you were born.”

“Everything happens for a reason, Samuel. Never forget that. Have faith in God’s will.”

There comes a day in every man’s life when he stops looking forward and starts looking back.

We realize it is in those quiet moments that each of us has the ability to make our lives extraordinary.

When you recognize a weakness, it is a wonderful thing—because then you can ask for help.

true meaning of success can be found in the quiet moments of my life—the moments when you all fill my heart with love.