My father once told me that a happy ending is just the place where you choose to stop telling the story. So this is where I choose to stop. More things are still going to happen, of course, some good, some bad. Some things never get any better. When people die they stay dead. None of us knows why we love, or why we stop loving, or why everyone we love we lose.
Interpretation
A happy ending is a subjective choice, reflecting on the nature of storytelling and love.
This quote explores the concept that a 'happy ending' is not an absolute conclusion but rather a personal choice on when to conclude a narrative. It acknowledges the complexities of love and loss, suggesting that while we seek contentment in our stories, the reality of life includes ongoing challenges and inevitable loss, reminding us that happiness can coexist with sorrow and uncertainty.
In practice
In a graduation speech to highlight how life continues to unfold after a significant milestone.
It doesn't matter if that felony happened three weeks ago or thirty-five years ago - for the rest of your life, you've got to check that box, knowing full well the odds are sky-high your application is going straight to the trash.
Fair... You'd be amazed how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang,and how meaningless it is. Is it fair your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld? No, not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. If you free me, I will do my duty.
Introspection is always retrospection
Death is woven in with the violets,” said Louis. “Death and again death.”)
What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me.
The misery we inflict on sentient beings slackens our human evolution.
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