“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
— Theodor Geisel
From 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' (1990), his final book, published by Random House. Written at age 86, one year before his death.
I was 86 when I wrote that line. My body was giving out, but I needed to say one more thing. Twenty-seven publishers told me my drawings were too strange. Critics said rhyming wasn't real work. My first wife's death broke something in me I never fully fixed. But I kept drawing, kept rhyming, kept putting one strange word after another. You have everything you need already. Pick a direction. Move.