Gambling can turn into a dangerous two-way street when you least expect it. Weird things happen suddenly, and your life can go all to pieces.
My life has been the polar opposite of safe, but I am proud of it and so is my son, and that is good enough for me. I would do it all over again without changing the beat, although I have never recommended it to others. That would be cruel and irresponsible and wrong, I think, and I am none of those things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects pride in a life lived boldly, despite its risks, emphasizing personal fulfillment over conventional safety.
Hunter S. Thompson expresses a deep appreciation for his unconventional and risky life choices. He acknowledges that while his path has been anything but safe, the pride and validation he feels from both his life and his relationship with his son make it worthwhile. He recognizes the gravity of his experiences and advises others against following a similar reckless course, showing a sense of responsibility and self-awareness about the impact of one's life choices on others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a graduation ceremony to inspire graduates to embrace life's challenges.
More from Hunter S. Thompson
All quotes βAs things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer.
Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach.
There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.
When you write for a living and you can't do anything else, you know that sooner or later that the deadline is going to come screaming down on you like a goddamn banshee. There's no avoiding it...So one day you just don't appear at the El Adobe bar anymore; you shut the door, paint the windows black, rent an electric typewriter and become the monster you always were - the writer.
Similar quotes
If it wasn't for baseball, I'd be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery. I have the same violent temper my father and older brother had. Both died of injuries from street fights in Baltimore, fights begun by flare-ups of their tempers.
You write your life story by the choices you make.
Sheβs really gone, then. The little girl with the back of her shirt sticking out like a duck tail, the one who needed help reaching the dishes, and who begged to see the frosted cakes in the bakery window. Time and tragedy have forced her to grow too quickly, at least for my taste, into a young woman who stitches bleeding wounds and knows our mother can hear only so much.
My dear Tom, Delighted to get your letter. Do write again. This life is terrible and I don't understand how it can be endured.
Life is too short for long-term grudges.
Ya know, right now the most important thing in my life is to make sure you understand that, first of all I thank God I'm alive today, and I mean that. I spent too many years of my life thinking that the big party was the whole thing.