When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Negative experiences can accumulate and worsen if not addressed promptly.
This quote emphasizes the importance of addressing and managing negative thoughts and experiences as they arise. Tom Waits warns that if we allow bad days to linger and grow unchecked, they can lead to prolonged periods of negativity that affect our overall happiness and well-being. By confronting these challenges early, we can prevent them from becoming overwhelming and impacting our lives for an extended time.
Themes
Bad DaysNegativitySelf-ManagementGrowthWell-Being
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech addressing mental health, one might quote this to encourage individuals to tackle their struggles promptly.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes →If you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
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My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
Tom WaitsRead
Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home I’d rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make ‘em grow
Tom WaitsRead
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork_x000D_ But it always comes roaring back again.
Tom WaitsRead
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