Norman Vincent Peale, the Christian preacher and author, gave us quite a few gifts during his lifetime. The book "The Power of Positive Thinking" and a few great Norman Vincent Peale quotes are just some of the things left from his legacy. We will once again be celebrating his birthday on May 31st. What better way to do it than by reflecting on these 12 great Norman Vincent Peale quotes?

1. "Be interesting, be enthusiastic... and don't talk too much."

2. "Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."

3. "Practice loving people. It is true that this requires effort and continued practice, for some are not very lovable, or so it seems - with emphasis on "seems." Every person has lovable qualities when you really learn to know him."

4. "Resentment or grudges do no harm to the person against whom you hold these feelings but every day and every night of your life, they are eating at you."

5. "Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination."

6. "One of the greatest moments in anybody's developing experience is when he no longer tries to hide from himself but determines to get acquainted with himself as he really is."

7. "All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do."

8. "Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are."

9. "Believe it is possible to solve your problem. Tremendous things happen to the believer. So believe the answer will come. It will."

10. "The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results."

11. "Change your thoughts and you change your world."

12. "Trouble is here. It is for a purpose. Use it for the purpose for which it was intended - to help you grow. Thank God for your troubles."

There are very few people in this world who can say that they inspired thousands, maybe even millions, of people while they were here. Norman Vincent Peale is one of these special individuals. This year, with his birthday so quickly approaching, let's take a moment to reflect on these Norman Vincent Peale quotes and remember that sometimes treasures do walk the earth.