Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.
Eugene O'NeillRead
I have had my dance with Folly, nor do I shirk the blame; I have sipped the so-called Wine of Life and paid the price of shame; But I know that I shall find surcease, the rest my spirit craves, Where the rainbows play in the flying spray, 'Mid the keen salt kiss of the waves.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the experiences of life, acknowledging both folly and shame, while also expressing hope for peace and fulfillment.
Eugene O'Neill's quote encapsulates a journey through life's pleasures and regrets. The speaker admits to indulgences and the accompanying consequences, but ultimately seeks solace in the beauty of nature, symbolized by the 'rainbows' and 'waves.' This reveals a yearning for spiritual rest and the promise of renewal amidst the chaos of human experience.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a reflective moment at a life coaching seminar.
Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.
Writing is my vacation from living.
When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity - but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial.
I am so far from being a pessimist...on the contrary, in spite of my scars, I am tickled to death at life.
There is no present or future-only the past, happening over and over again-now.
Life is a solitary cell whose walls are mirrors.
It haunted him all night, while he slept alone; it was still there in the morning, when he swallowed his coffee and backed down the driveway in the crumpled old Ford. And riding to work, one of the youngest and healthiest passengers on the train, he sat with the look of a man condemned to a very slow, painless death. He felt middle-aged.
I cannot live a life where I'm deprived. I'd much rather be five, 10 pounds heavier. With my luck, I'll get myself to that perfect goal weight, and I'll get hit by a bus. Then I'll be like... looking at myself from some afterlife going, 'You idiot. You could have had that agnolotti, dummy.'
Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life.
It's still scary every time I go back to the past. Each morning, my heart catches. When I get there, I remember how the light was, where the draft was coming from, what odors were in the air. When I write, I get all the weeping out.
When you're surfing you're not thinking about where you parked the car or what you're going to do when you grow up or what you're going to buy when you've got lots of money. You know, you're just there. You're in the moment. And I think in a contemporary world, that's a rare privilege.
It is always the first and last steps that are the hardest to take. We walk away and try not to turn back, or we stand just outside the gates, terrified to find what's waiting for us now that we've returned. In between, we stumble blindly from one place and life to the next. We try to do the best we can. There are moments like this, however, when we are neither coming nor going, and all we have to do is sit and look back on the life we have made.
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