Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored
Alice WalkerRead
Laughter isn't even the other side of tears. It is tears turned inside out. Truly the suffering is great, here on earth. We blunder along, shredded by our mistakes, bludgeoned by our faults. Not having a clue where the dark path leads us. But on the whole, we stumble along bravely, don't you think?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Laughter and tears are interconnected emotions stemming from human experiences of suffering and resilience.
Alice Walker reflects on the profound connection between laughter and tears, suggesting that they are not simply opposites, but rather two expressions of the same sorrowful human experience. She acknowledges life's difficulties and mistakes, but also emphasizes our ability to persevere and find courage, even in the midst of suffering and uncertainty.
Themes
LaughterTearsSufferingResilienceHuman ExperienceCourage
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming adversity, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of finding humor amidst struggles.
More from Alice Walker
All quotes →June Jordan, who died of cancer in 2002, was a brilliant, fierce, radical, and frequently furious poet. We were friends for thirty years. Not once in that time did she step back from what was transpiring politically and morally in the world. She spoke up, and led her students, whom she adored, to do the same.
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On a spiritual level, it's as though with my sighted eye I see what's before me, and with my unsighted eye I see what's hidden. It's illuminated life more than darkened it.
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I think 'The Color Purple' is so bursting with love, the need for connection, the showing of the need for connection around the globe.
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How long will it take the citizens of the United States, one wonders, to recognize that the house their country bombed in Iraq is the same one they were living in until it was foreclosed?
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One white man on the platform in South Carolina asked us where we were going--we had got off the train to get some fresh air and to dust the grit and dust out of our clothes. When we said Africa he looked offended and tickled too. Niggers going to Africa, he said to his wife. Now I have seen everything.
Alice WalkerRead
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