When Jonathan Winters died, it was like, 'Oh, man!' I knew he was frail, but I always thought he was going to last longer. I knew him as being really funny, but at the same time, he had a dark side.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the unexpected nature of mortality and the complexity of a person's character.
Robin Williams expresses his sorrow and surprise at the death of Jonathan Winters, highlighting the fragility of life and how, despite knowing Winters as a humorous individual, he acknowledges the deeper complexities of his personality, including a darker side. This duality emphasizes that people are often more than what they seem on the surface, and their departure leaves a profound impact on those who knew them.
In practice
In a eulogy at a memorial service, one might reflect on the vibrant life and multifaceted personality of the deceased.
It's that idea that you can have one drink - and no you can't. Within a week I was drinking heavily. It was so quick that even I was like, 'Wow.' Because you have that initial warm feeling going, 'Oh, I remember this'. And your body does, too. And your body goes, 'Yeah, so do I'. Then the demon voice comes, 'Yeah, so do I. You know what would be great? You know we bought a little bottle before? A full bottle would be wonderful'.
I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.
Sometimes over things that I did, movies that didn't turn out very well - you go, 'Why did you do that?' But in the end, I can't regret them because I met amazing people. There was always something that was worth it.
I've never been asked to appear on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!,' so I guess I mustn't be on the professional skids just yet.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'
I write on big yellow legal pads - ideas in outline form when I'm doing stand-up and stuff. It's vivid that way. I can't type it into an iPad - I think that would put a filter into the process.
In America, burial means an embalmed body in a heavy-duty casket with a vault built over it, so that the ground doesn't settle. That body is encased in many layers of denial.
It's hard for me to get interested in stories that ignore death, which is what American marketing culture would like to do: pretend that death doesn't exist, that you can buy immortality; just buy these products, and you'll be forever young and happy.
Keeping an active mind has been vital to my survival, as has been maintaining a sense of humor.
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor
"God", "the immortality of the soul", "salvation", "the beyond"-even as a child I had no time for such notions, I do not waste any time upon them-maybe I was never childish enough for that?
I come not to entertain you with worldly festivities but to arouse your sleeping memory of immortality.
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