Some good references to wise words have been made particularly with regards to the poem 'Footprints in the sand', check it out if you can. Also like 'The living years', there is one excellent line in there that gets directly to the point.
I find it somewhat surprising that we have got this far into the topic without somebody mentioning some wise words of the 'Bard'. One of his that I like, although not necessarily a hint for life, more like an observation on life for some.
'When sorrows come, they come not single spies....but in battalions'.
