Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, the best film critic ever, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, which later spread to his salivary glands and jaw. He endured surgery after surgery. Although the cancer has left Roger unable to speak, eat or drink, it hasn't slowed him down one bit. In 2006, he was forced to leave his show after more than 30 years on the air. More than forty years after he started, his words are as powerful as ever. Roger has journaled about the lesson he's learned throughout this ordeal. It's one every person can live by:

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and I am happy that I lived long enough to find it out."