“I'm nothing special, of that I'm sure. I am an ordinary man with ordinary thoughts and have led an ordinary life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I have loved another with all my heart and soul and that has always been enough for me.” This is a quote from The Notebook, a famous book written by Nicholas Sparks in 1996. This quote inspires people to have faith that love is the only thing in the world they need. It is not necessary for them to have prosperity or fame. They simply need an individual to love with all their heart for all eternity. The world is a place where love somehow seems to find its way in the most difficult times. Nicholas Sparks is a devoted author, father, husband, and giver who sees this clearly and shows it in his novels. To understand the true meaning of Nicholas Sparks and his novels, you need to know his background, the truth about what critics think about his novels, and his influence on today's society. Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1984 in Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska, while not usually associated with a large population, has the 16th largest population of all states. Omaha is actually the largest city in Nebraska. Nicholas Sparks was the middle child of Patrick and Jill Sparks. He has an older brother and a younger sister. Until the age of nine, Nicholas Sparks' father was a student, which meant that the family spent most of their time moving from place to place with very little money. “I grew up on powdered milk and potatoes, although, to be honest, I never noticed how poor we really were until I was old enough to honestly evaluate things,” he recalls (“Biography.com” 1). Even as a child, Sparks was never truly... at the center of the paper... of his thought-provoking novels.Works CitedBio.com. A&E Networks Television and Web. December 3, 2013."Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com and Web. 02 December 2013. "NCW: What Critics Say About Nicholas Sparks." NCW--What critics say about Nicholas Sparks. Np, nd Web. 03 December 2013. "Nicholas Sparks - Dear John." - Fun. Np, nd Web. 05 December 2013."Nicholas Sparks - The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks. Com." Nicholas Sparks - The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks . com. Np, nd Web. 04 December 2013. "Nicholas Sparks." Literature.wikia. Np, nd Web. 08 December 2013. "Nicholas Sparks." Nicola Scintille. Np, nd Web. December 2, 2013. "Nicholas Sparks Writes Another Sappy Novel." Entertainment and world news about monsters and critics. Np, nd Web. December 05, 2013."This Little Life of Mine...": Book Review: The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. Np, nd Web. 05 December. 2013.