Albert Einstein

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
― Albert Einstein

André Gide, Autumn Leave

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”
― André Gide, Autumn Leave

― Oscar Wilde

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

Robert Frost

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”
― Robert Frost

Mae West

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
― Mae West

― William W. Purkey

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 

                     ― William W. Purkey

Ben Carson

“Do your best and let God do the rest.”
― Ben Carson

Winston S. Churchill

''It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what                                       required

                     ― Winston S. Churchill

Marvin J. Ashtond

“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.”
― Marvin J. Ashtond

Sarah Kay

“I have seen the best of you, and the worst of you, and I choose both.” 

                   ― Sarah Kay

John Lenno

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
― John Lenno

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Albert Camus

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus

Mahatma Gandhi

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden

Chuck Palahniuk, Diary

“It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Diary

Abraham Lincoln

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
― Abraham Lincoln

Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dr. Seuss

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

Erica Jong

“I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back....”
― Erica Jong

Taylor Swift

“This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.”
― Taylor Swift

Barack Obama

Barack Obama
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
― Barack Obama

Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“If people refuse to look at you in a new light and they can only see you for what you were, only see you for the mistakes you've made, if they don't realize that you are not your mistakes, then they have to go.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Lao Tzu

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu

Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“You can't stop the future
You can't rewind the past
The only way to learn the secret
...is to press play.”
                    ― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

Jalaluddin Rumi

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
― Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein

Albert Einstein

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
― Albert Einstein

Nelson Mandela

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
― Nelson Mandela

Margaret Mead

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret  Mead

Leo Tolstoy

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Neil Gaiman, The Kindly Ones

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Kindly Ones

William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Elie Wiese

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

André Gide, Autumn Leaves

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”
― André Gide, Autumn Leaves

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Elbert Hubbard

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard

Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

Quote - Dr. Seuss

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss

Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“If you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Qoute - Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“Great leaders can see the greatness in others when they can’t see it themselves and lead them to their highest potential they don’t even know.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Quote - Roy T. Bennett

“One of the best ways to influence people is to make them feel important.”
― Roy T. Bennett

Quote - Roopleen

“If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.”
― Roopleen

Quote - Dolly Parton

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.”
― Dolly Parton

Quote - Steve Jobs

“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out.”
― Steve Jobs

Quote - John C. Maxwell

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
― John C. Maxwell

Quote - Ronald Reagan

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
― Ronald Reagan

Quote -= William Arthur Ward

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
― William Arthur Ward

Quote - Eleanor Roosevelt

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Legend Odin's ravens

A Legend From Iceland – Odin’s ravens


Iceland – Odin’s ravens


Hugin and Munin
Fly every day
Over all the world;
I worry for Hugin
That he might not return,
But I worry more for Munin.

In Norse mythology, Odin; father of the gods and ruler of Asgard; had a pair of ravens named Huginn and Muninn. Their job was to fly around the world during the day and return to Odin in the evening with news of what was happening on Earth (Midgard). Their names mean “thought” and “mind” (or “memory”) respectively, and it’s believed that they represented these aspects of Odin’s daily meditation. While the lord of gods meditated, his thought and mind ventured out to open his consciousness to the goings on of the world under his protection.

Huginn and Muninn also represent the ideas of the fylgia; a supernatural companion that takes animal form in order to accompany a person in relation to their fate or fortune; and hamingja; the personification of the good fortune of a person or family, often in shape-shifting animal form as well. This ties the connection together nicely, as the fortunes of the ruling family of Ponnivala, as well as their enemies, are intimately tied to the treatment and deeds of their close animal companions.

Legend of Finn Mac Cuhaill

A Legend From Ireland – Finn Mac Cuhaill

Ireland – Finn Mac Cuhaill

As a seven-year-old boy, Finn Mac Cuhaill met on the banks of the Boyne with a seer called Finneigeas. Finneigeas had dedicated the past seven years of his life to catching the Salmon of Knowledge, which swam in the river and would impart the knowledge of the world on the first person to taste it.

While Finn was there, Finneigeas caught the salmon, and with much joy put it on the spit to cook, entrusting the cooking to Finn but warning him not to taste it. After a time, Finn went to see if the fish was cooked, however, he touched it with his thumb and burnt himself, leaving a blister. To ease the pain, he put his thumb in his mouth, and thus became the first person to taste the salmon. When Finneigeas looked at the boy’s face, he saw the wisdom shining in it, and knew that the salmon was no good to him. Ever after that, if Finn needed to know something, he put his thumb into his mouth and the knowledge came to him.

Legend Selma

A Legend From Norway – Selma

Norway – Selma

Close to Telemark, Norway, is a Lake called Seljordsvatnet. It is twelve miles long and one and a half miles wide.Like Loch Ness is was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. There have been reports of a large creature living in the lake since the 1750’s.Eyewitness reports, generally describe the creature, dubbed Selma by the locals, as a 30 to 45 foot serpent like creature.

A documented account of an encounter with the creature dates back to 1880 when Bjorn Bjorge, and his mother Gunhild, were said to have cut a creature that attacked them in half. According to the document the lower portion of the creature squirmed back into the lake while the front half was left to rot on the shore.

In the summer of 1918, Karl Karlsson walked down to the bridge at Sandnes to fish.Suddenly he saw an animal in the water. It came very close ,moving very fast and Karl Karlsson became frightened and ran away ,leaving his fishing rod.. He described the head of the animal as being like a horse. It held it’s head about three feet out of the water and then it stopped, sank straight down and disappeared.

Two years later, Eivind Fjodstuft went out to fish. When he came to the point he saw an animal on its way out of the lake.It turned back when Eivind came towards it and slipped down into the water.He described the animal as 15-20 meters long, with a head resembling the head of a crocodile. The animal was black in color and had finlike feet at the front part, right below its neck. He saw no eyes or mouth, but the animal turned its head from side to side and seemed to scout and listen. It quickly went back into the water again. In 1996, two men were fishing around dusk on Lake Seljordsvatnet when there was a sudden commotion in the water. A horse like head attached to a ten foot long neck rose from the water, the creature starred at the two fisherman from about 8 inches away before slowly submerging .In in July, 2001, an unnamed father and son from Oslo,were taking a walk down to the lake to go swimming. They were about 100 yards away when they noticed something strange on the beach. The two stopped about 30 feet from the beach as they witnessed what they could only describe as a giant snake just at the waters edge.The animal held its head towards the water unaware of their presence but as they watched the son stumbled, making a noise, and the beast turned its long neck around and stared at directly at them They described the creature’s head as like a calf. The beast swung its head back towards the lake and glided into the lake. The two described it as having an enormous body, which was at least 30 feet long, and was as thick as a car tyre.

Legend Sigurd

A Legend From Sweden – Sigurd

Sweden – Sigurd

Sigurd was a member of the royal family of Denmark and a descendant of the god Odin. He was raised by a blacksmith named Regin, who made him a special sword from pieces of a sword owned by Sigurd’s father.

Sigurd used his sword to kill the dragon Fafnir and so acquire its golden treasure. When Sigurd roasted and ate the beast’s heart, he was able to understand the language of the birds around him. They warned him that Regin was going to betray him, so Sigurd beheaded the blacksmith. Sigurd took the treasure and put a ring on his finger. He was unaware that the ring bore a curse, which brought misfortune to its wearer.

After slaying Fafnir, Sigurd came upon a castle where he awakened the warrior maiden Brunhilde, whom Odin had cast into a deep sleep. Sigurd gave his ring to Brunhilde and promised to return to marry her. But during his journey Sigurd was given a magic drink that made him forget Brunhilde, and he married the princess Gudrun instead.

Legend Ukko

A Legend From Finland – Ukko

Finland – Ukko

Ukko possessed a weapon, often a hammer called Ukonvasara, sometimes also an axe or a sword, by which he struck lightning.

Thunderstorms were sometimes interpreted as result of Ukko copulating with his wife Akka. He also was believed to cause thunderstorms by driving his chariot through the skies.

A viper with a serrated line on its back was considered a symbol of thunder.

There is evidence that the rowan tree was held sacred to Ukko. Rauni, a vaguely defined being has been hypothesised to be cognate to Germanic words for the rowan tree.

The ladybird was also considered sacred to Ukko and called ukonlehmä.

Legend King Man

A Legend From Denmark – King Dan

Denmark – King Dan

The story is told that, in olden days, there were three brothers: Dan, Nor and Østen. They were the sons of King Ypper, who lived in Uppsala in Sweden, which was named for him.

The brothers went their separate ways, settling each in a different country. Dan went to Denmark, Nor to Norway, and Østen stayed in Sweden, in the countries to the East.

At that time, the realm of Denmark did not yet exist. Dan ruled only over the island of Zealand and the lesser isles. Jutland, Funen and Scania were each separate kingdoms. The Jutes were, at that time, at war with the German king. They built up earthworks and a palisade along their southern border, in that place where Queen Thyra later caused Dannevirke to be built. They named this wall Kovirke. But, when the German king came with a mighty host, they sent messengers to King Dan asking for his help.

Dan went to war with the Germans, and a great battle was fought before the wall. Most of the enemy fell, “biting the grass”, as the saying goes, and the rest fled. When the Jutes saw how brave King Dan was, they led him to their thing-place, and placed him upon a great stone, proclaiming him their king. This stone was since called Daneryge (ryge being a Jutish word for “large stone”), and it was there, later, that Danish kings were acclaimed. Daneryge was to be found on the the thing-place outside Viborg, and the entire place has also been called Danerlyngen.

When the people of Funen and Scania heard of this, they also elected Dan their king. Dan now summoned the best men in all the realm, and he said to them: “This land is fair and fertile, yet it has one flaw: it lacks for a name.”

They answered him: “You are Dan, and therefore the realm shall be called Danmark, and this name shall last for so long as the world lasts.”

King Dan built himself a royal palace at Lejre near Roskilde Fjord. He was called Dan the Grand or the Mighty, because no man before him had had such a great domain. After his death, the Danes built a barrow. They placed him in the tomb chamber fully armed and arrayed for war, mounted on his horse. Then they cast earth upon the tomb, making a mighty burial mound.

Legend of Flying Dutchman

A Legend From Netherlands – Flying Dutchman

The Netherlands – Flying Dutchman

In 1795, sailors told a story of a Dutch ship that got lost at sea during a horrendous storm. The same ship later wrecked other ships in bouts of ghastly fog. This was the result of captain Bernard Fokke’s behaviour: he was known for the “devilish” speed on his trips from Holland to Java. Some said that Fokke was aided by the Devil…

Another version of the legend starts in 1641 when a Dutch ship sank off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. The trip to the Far East had been successful and the ship was on its way back home to Holland, so captain Van der Decken was pleased… and failed to notice the dark clouds looming. Only when he heard the lookout scream in terror, he did realise they sailed straight into a heavy storm. Van der Decken and his crew battled for hours to get out of the storm, but then they heard a sickening crunch: the ship had hit a rock and began to sink. As the ship plunged downwards and the captain knew death was approaching, he screamed out a curse: “I will round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until Doomsday!”

Misfortune, greed, and fidelity collide in this storm-battered tale of one man’s quest for life-saving love. Wagner retells the legend of the fearsome Flying Dutchman, cursed to sail the seas until he finds a woman who will love him until death, in his famous opera…

Legend of Manneken Pis

A Legend From Belgium – Manneken Pis

Belgium – Manneken Pis

There are several legends behind this statue :

In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke (now Neder-Over-Heembeek). The troops put the infant lord in a basket and hung the basket in a tree to encourage them. From there, the boy urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle.

Another legend states that in the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held its ground for some time, so the attackers conceived of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Julianske happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city.

Another story tells of a wealthy merchant who, during a visit to the city with his family, had his beloved young son go missing. The merchant hastily formed a search party that scoured all corners of the city until the boy was found happily urinating in a small garden. The merchant, as a gift of gratitude to the locals who helped out during the search, had the fountain built.

Another legend was that a small boy went missing from his mother when shopping in the centre of the city. The woman, panic-stricken by the loss of her child, called upon everyone she came across, including the mayor of the city. A city-wide search began and when at last the child was found, he was urinating on the corner of a small street. The story was passed down over time and the statue erected as a tribute to the well-known fable.

Another legend tells of the young boy who was awoken by a fire and was able to put out the fire with his urine, in the end this helped stop the king’s castle from burning down.

Legend of El Dorado

The Legend of El Dorado

The Mysterious Lost City of Gold

by Christopher Minster

Updated May 12, 2017

El Dorado was a mythical city supposedly located somewhere in the unexplored interior of South America. It was said to be unimaginably rich, with fanciful tales told of gold-paved streets, golden temples and rich mines of gold and silver. Between 1530 and 1650 or so, thousands of Europeans searched the jungles, plains, mountains and rivers of South America for El Dorado, many of them losing their lives in the process.

El Dorado never existed except in the fevered imaginations of these seekers, so it was never found.

AZTEC AND INCA GOLD

The El Dorado myth had its roots in the vast fortunes discovered in Mexico and Peru. In 1519, Hernán Cortes captured Emperor Montezuma and sacked the mighty Aztec Empire, making off with thousands of pounds of gold and silver and making rich men of the conquistadors who were with him. In 1533, Francisco Pizarrodiscovered the Inca Empire in the Andes of South America. Taking a page from Cortes' book, Pizarro captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa and held him for ransom, earning another fortune in the process. Lesser New World cultures such as the Maya in Central America and the Muisca in present-day Colombia yielded smaller (but still significant) treasures.

THE SEEKERS OF EL DORADO

Tales of these fortunes made the rounds in Europe and soon thousands of adventurers from all over Europe were making their way to the New World, hoping to be part of the next expedition.

Most (but not all) of them were Spanish. These adventurers had little or no personal fortune but great ambition: most had some experience fighting in Europe's many wars. They were violent, ruthless men who had nothing to lose: they would get rich on New World gold or die trying. Soon the ports were flooded with these would-be conquistadors, who would form into large expeditions and set off into the unknown interior of South America, often following the vaguest rumors of gold.

THE BIRTH OF EL DORADO

There was a grain of truth in the El Dorado myth. The Muisca people of Cundinamarca (present-day Colombia) had a tradition: kings would coat themselves in a sticky sap before covering themselves in gold powder. The king would then take a canoe to the center of Lake Guatavitá and, before the eyes of thousands of his subjects watching from shore, would leap into the lake, emerging clean. Then, a great festival would begin. This tradition had been neglected by the Muisca by the time of their discovery by the Spanish in 1537, but not before word of it had reached the greedy ears of the European intruders in cities all over the continent. "El Dorado," in fact, is Spanish for "the gilded one:" the term at first referred to an individual, the king who covered himself in gold. According to some sources, the man who coined this phrase was conquistador Sebastián de Benalcázar.

EVOLUTION OF THE MYTH OF EL DORADO

After the Cundinamarca plateau was conquered, the Spanish dredged Lake Guatavitá in search of the gold of El Dorado. Some gold was indeed found, but not as much as the Spanish had hoped for. Therefore, they reasoned optimistically, the Muisca must not be the true kingdom of El Dorado and it must still be out there somewhere.

Expeditions, composed of recent arrivals from Europe as well as veterans of the conquest, set out in all directions to search for it. The legend grew as illiterate conquistadors passed the legend by word of mouth from one to another: El Dorado was not merely one king, but a rich city made of gold, with enough wealth for a thousand men to become rich forever.

THE QUEST FOR EL DORADO

Between 1530 and 1650 or so, thousands of men made dozens of forays into the unmapped interior of South America. A typical expedition went something like this. In a Spanish coastal town on the South American mainland, such as Santa Marta or Coro, a charismatic, influential individual would announce an expedition. Anywhere from one hundred to seven hundred Europeans, mostly Spaniards, would sign up, bringing their own armor, weapons and horses (if you had a horse you got a larger share of the treasure).

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The expedition would force natives along to carry the heavier gear, and some of the better-planned ones would bring livestock (usually hogs) to slaughter and eat along the way. Fighting dogs were always brought along, as they were useful when fighting bellicose natives. The leaders would often borrow heavily to purchase supplies.

After a couple of months, they were ready to go. The expedition would head off, seemingly in any direction. They would stay out for any length of time from a couple of months to as long as four years, searching plains, mountains, rivers and jungles. They would meet natives along the way: these they would either torture or ply with gifts to get information about where they could find gold. Almost invariably, the natives pointed in some direction and said some variation of "our neighbors in that direction have the gold you seek." The natives had quickly learned that the best way to be rid of these rude, violent men was to tell them what they wanted to hear and send them on their way.

Meanwhile, illnesses, desertion and native attacks would whittle down the expedition. Nevertheless, the expeditions proved surprisingly resilient, braving mosquito-infested swamps, hordes of angry natives, blazing heat on the plains, flooded rivers and frosty mountain passes. Eventually, when their numbers got too low (or when the leader died) the expedition would give up and return home.

THE SEEKERS OF EL DORADO

Over the years, many men searched South America for the legendary lost city of gold. At best, they were impromptu explorers, who treated the natives they encountered relatively fairly and helped map the unknown interior of South America. At worst, they were greedy, obsessed butchers who tortured their way through native populations, killing thousands in their fruitless quest. Here are some of the more distinguished seekers of El Dorado:

Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisco de Orellana: In 1541, Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro, led an expedition east from Quito. After a few months, he sent his lieutenant Francisco de Orellana in search of supplies: Orellana and his men instead found the Amazon River, which they followed to the Atlantic Ocean.Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada: Quesada set out from Santa Marta with 700 men in 1536: in early 1537 they reached the Cundinamarca plateau, home of the Muisca people, which they swiftly conquered. Quesada's expedition was the one that actually found El Dorado, although the greedy conquistadors at the time refused to admit that the mediocre takings from the Muisca were the fulfillment of the legend and they kept looking.Ambrosius Ehinger: Ehinger was a German: at the time, part of Venezuela was administered by Germans. He set out in 1529 and again in 1531 and led two of the cruelest expeditions: his men tortured natives and sacked their villages relentlessly. He was killed by natives in 1533 and his men went home.Lope de Aguirre: Aguirre was a soldier on Pedro de Ursúa's 1559 expedition which set out from Peru. Aguirre, a paranoid psychotic, soon turned the men against Ursúa, who was murdered. Aguirre eventually took over the expedition and began a reign of terror, ordering the murder of many of the original explorers and capturing and terrorizing the Island of Margarita. He was killed by Spanish soldiers.Sir Walter Raleigh: this legendary Elizabethan courtier is remembered as the man who introduced potatoes and tobacco to Europe and for his sponsorship of the doomed Roanoke colony in Virginia. But he also was a seeker of El Dorado: he thought it was in the highlands of Guyana and made two trips there: one in 1595 and a second in 1617. After the failure of the second expedition, Raleigh was executed in England.

WHERE IS EL DORADO?

So, was El Dorado ever found? Sort of. The conquistadors followed tales of El Dorado to Cundinamarca, but refused to believe that they had found the mythical city, so they kept looking. The Spanish didn't know it, but the Muisca civilization was the last major native culture with any wealth. The El Dorado they searched for after 1537 did not exist. Still, they searched and searched: dozens of expeditions containing thousands of men scoured South America until about 1800 when Alexander Von Humboldt visited South America and concluded that El Dorado had been a myth all along.

Nowadays, you can find El Dorado on a map, although it's not the one the Spanish were looking for. There are towns named El Dorado in several countries, including Venezuela, Mexico and Canada. In the USA there are no fewer than thirteen towns named El Dorado (or Eldorado). Finding El Dorado is easier than ever…just don't expect streets paved with gold.

The El Dorado legend has proven resilient. The notion of a lost city of gold and the desperate men who search for it is just too romantic for writers and artists to resist. Countless songs, stories books and poems (including one by Edgar Allen Poe) have been written about the subject. There is even a superhero called El Dorado. Moviemakers, in particular, have been fascinated by the legend: as recently as 2010 a movie was made about a modern-day scholar who finds clues to the lost city of El Dorado: action and shootouts ensue.