I was never afraid of failure after that because, I think, coming that close to death you get kissed. With the years, the actual experience of course fades, but the flavor of it doesn't. I just had a real sense of what choice do I have but to live fully?
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of embracing life fully after facing near-death experiences.
Debra Winger reflects on how her close encounter with death transformed her perspective on life. Instead of fearing failure, she feels a profound motivation to live fully, as such experiences lend a unique appreciation for life. Over time, the intensity of the moment may soften, yet the understanding of cherishing life remains vital. It prompts a recognition that our choices define our existence, urging us to engage with life courageously and wholeheartedly.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a motivational speech about overcoming fears.
We might not be back. I might be in jail. I might be anywhere. But when I leave, you'll remember I said, with the last words on my lips, that I am a revolutionary. And you're going to have to keep on saying that. You're going to have to say that I am a proletariat; I am the people.
We've been blessed with the opportunity to stand for something - for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to.
I always showed myself in the face of day, asserting the liberty and independence of my country, while some others, like owls, courted concealment and were too much afraid of losing their roosts to leave them for such a cause.
For love of country, they accepted death.
Some of us have a hard time believing that we are actually able to face our own pain. We have convinced ourselves that our pain is too deep, too frightening, something to avoid at all costs. Yet if we finally allow ourselves to feel the depth of that sadness and gently let it break our hearts, we may come to feel a great freedom, a genuine sense of release and peace, because we have finally stopped running away from ourselves and from the pain that lives within us.
Be as bold as the first man or [woman] to eat an oyster.
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