I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.
Neal ShustermanRead
Either things happen for a reason, or they happen for no reason at all. Either one's life is a thread in a glorious tapestry or humanity is just a hopelessly tangled knot.
Interpretation
The quote explores the purpose of life and the importance of perspective in interpreting our experiences.
Neal Shusterman's quote presents a dichotomy regarding the nature of events in life: either they are part of a meaningful design, contributing to a larger narrative, or they exist randomly, leading to chaos and confusion. This reflection invites us to consider how we view our struggles and experiences, suggesting that our perspective can significantly shape our understanding of life's events and our place within them.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming challenges.
I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.
Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.
She smiles at them as they go by and continues to play, making it clear that this furnace of a place, full of planes that cannot fly, is more than it seems. It is a womb of redemption for every Unwind, and fora ll those who fought the Heartland War and lost - which was everybody.
Words don't hurt you." Which is one of the hugest criminal lies perpetrated by adults against children in this world. Because words hurt more than any physical pain.
Which is worse, Risa often wondered, to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted or to silently make then go away before they were even born
They say you never know who's the real hero and who's the real coward until you're looking death in the face. I've always been afraid of plenty of things, but fear isn't what makes you a coward. It's how depraved your heart becomes when fear gets pumped through it.
When I was five, I am told, and asked what my favorite things in the world were, I answered, smoked salmon and Bach.
It has always irked me as improper that there are still so many people for whom the sky is no more than a mass of random points of light. I do not see why we should recognize a house, a tree, or a flower here below and not, for example, the red Arcturus up there in the heavens as it hangs from its constellation Bootes, like a basket hanging from a balloon.
The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.
The forgiveness of God is one thing, but the proof that we want that forgiveness is the energy we expend to make amends for the wrong.
To annihilate the world by annihilation of oneself is the deluded height of desperate egoism.
I find myself born into this particular position. I'm determined to make the most of it. And to do whatever I can to help. And I hope I leave things behind a little bit better than I found them.
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