My first words, as I was being born [...] I looked up at my mother and said, 'that's the last time I'm going up one of those.
Interpretation
This quote humorously reflects on the experience of birth and the irony of a child's first thoughts.
In this quote, Stephen Fry uses humor to illustrate the absurdity and irony of a newbornβs initial perception of the world. The suggestion that a baby would make a vow to never 'go up' again implies a conscious awareness and an exaggerated commentary on the ups and downs of life that we encounter from the moment we enter the world. It highlights a comedic perspective on the experiences that shape our journey from infancy.
In practice
This quote could be used in a humorous speech about parenting and the surprises of childbirth.
I used many times to touch my own chest and feel, under its asthmatic quiver, the engine of the heart and lungs and blood and feel amazed at what I sensed was the enormity of the power I possessed. Not magical power, but real power. The power simply to go on, the power to endure, that is power enough, but I felt I had also the power to create, to add, to delight, to amaze and to transform.
To be human and to be adult means constantly to be in the grip of opposing emotions, to have daily to reconcile apparently conflicting tensions. I want this, but need that. I cherish this, but I adore its opposite too.
There comes a time when the blankness of the future is just so extreme, it's like such a black wall of nothingness. Not of bad things like a cave full of monsters and so, you're afraid of entering it. It's just nothingness, the void, emptiness and it is just horrible. It's like contemplating a future-less future and so you just want to step out of it. The monstrosity of being alive overwhelms you.
As someone who worked hard for a Labour victory in the 90s, do I regret it? Not really. It was bound to happen. And it'll happen with the next government, and the one after it. Because all governments serve us. They serve the filth.
It's now very common to hear people say 'I'm rather offended by that'.
You can't just say there is a God because well, the world is beautiful. You have to account for bone cancer in children. You have to account for the fact that almost all animals in the wild live under stress with not enough to eat and will die violent and bloody deaths. There is not any way that you can just choose the nice bits and say that means there is a God and ignore the true fact of what nature is.
Ah, if he could only die temporarily!
People always tell me "Have a nice day." Well what if I don't want to? What if I want to have a crappy day?
Humor is the healthy way of feeling "distance" between one's self and the problem, a way of standing off and looking at one's problem with perspective.
A sense of humor is the main measure of sanity.
Who's judging American Idol? Paula Abdul? Paula Abdul judging a singing contest is like Christopher Reeve judging a dance contest!
Very often in Chekhov, where he exhibits a little bit of human behavior that you recognize as true, you give a little laugh. It's like a reflex.
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