If I'm half as good as everybody said I am, I'm far too good to be wasting time with ordinary people. But I seem to be spending my life with ordinary people, who are the best people in the world.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the value of appreciating ordinary people despite one's greatness.
Stan Lee expresses a duality in his view of self-worth and the people around him. While he acknowledges a certain level of greatness that others attribute to him, he ultimately finds fulfillment and worth in the company of 'ordinary' people, recognizing them as the most valuable in the world. This observation highlights the importance of connection and relatability over status.
In practice
A motivational speech about valuing relationships over status.
To be honest, when I was writing these stories a million years ago, I never thought about movies at all one way or another. It would have seemed almost miraculous for these things to be movies someday. To me, they were just comic books that I hoped would sell so I could keep my job.
I wanted them to be diverse. The whole underlying principle of the X-Men was to try to be an anti-bigotry story to show there's good in every person.
America is made of different races and different religions, but we're all co-travelers on the spaceship Earth and must respect and help each other along the way.
My mother was the greatest mother in the world. She thought I was the greatest thing on two feet. I'd come home with a little composition I had written at school, and she'd look at it and say, 'It's wonderful! You're another Shakespeare!' I always assumed I could do anything. It really is amazing how much that has to do with your attitude.
For years, kids have been asking me what's the greatest superpower. I always say luck. If you're lucky, everything works. I've been lucky.
Sooner or later, if man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance.
We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives.
The side of fairytales I don't like is that they always have happy endings, that there's just good and evil, and things are perfect. But life is a little more complicated, and that's what I try to teach my kids.
'Oscar Wao' for example cohered in a period of terrible distress. All the novels that I wanted to write were not happening.
My cancer scare changed my life. I'm grateful for every new, healthy day I have. It has helped me prioritize my life.
I grew up in poverty on the edge of a golf course. I saw how people lived on the other side of the tracks, the upper crust and the WASPs at the country club. We had chickens and pigs in our yards. We butchered every year. I'll never forget those things.
We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing. It was the strangest thing. Her passing away ripped the solidity out of the world.
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