LIFE: There are times in life when it feels like we ought to have a user’s manual. While that’s not something humans were given, we were given men like Mister Fred Rogers, who left us with words to help us through confusing times. Here are a few quotes from the Presbyterian minister and neighbor to all.

“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has — or ever will have — something inside that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”

About ourselves: “Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.”

About quiet: “How many times have you noticed that it’s the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?”

On extra effort: “I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said ‘yes,’ when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.”

On self esteem: “If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”

On stress: “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.”