As women, we get the message about how to be a good girl - how to be a good, pretty girl - from such an early age. Then, at the same time, we're told that well-behaved girls won't change the world or ever make a splash.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
People are always trying to be on top. And not always with a macabre agenda, but I think that people are desperately trying to remain in control, rather than being honest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on people's desire for control and the challenges of authenticity.
In this quote, Phoebe Waller-Bridge examines the human tendency to seek power and control over our circumstances. She suggests that this pursuit often comes at the expense of honesty, as individuals may prioritize maintaining their position instead of embracing vulnerability and truthfulness. The underlying message prompts reflection on the nature of ambition and the importance of authenticity in our interactions.
Themes
ControlHonestyAuthenticityPowerHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about business ethics, this quote could highlight the importance of honesty in leadership.
More from Phoebe Waller-Bridge
All quotes →You don't often see a cross section of female characters interacting with each other at the top of a chain.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
I think, a lot of time, I'm just writing my worst fears, of the idea of losing my mom or my best friend or doing something so terrible to somebody that's kind of deemed unforgivable or having a really broken family.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
You're allowed to bore your friends and family, but to bore your audience is unforgivable.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
If you hear somebody say something absolutely horrendous about their own life, in quite a flippant, offbeat kind of way, when you meet people clearly trying to be strong and brave, the ones who are really good at it are the ones who break my heart the most.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
When an audience is laughing with a character, they make themselves so vulnerable, and they open up. They expose their heart the moment they're laughing, because they're relaxed and they're disarmed.
Phoebe Waller-BridgeRead
Similar quotes
Sometimes I read about someone saying with great authority that animals have no intentions and no feelings, and I wonder, 'Doesn't this guy have a dog?'
Frans De WaalRead
Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
Those who make some other person their job... are dangerous.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
Each of us lives within the universe - the prison - of his own brain. Projecting from it are millions of fragile sensory nerve fibers, in groups uniquely adapted to sample the energetic states of the world around us: heat, light, force, and chemical composition. That is all we ever know of it directly; all else is logical inference.
Vernon Benjamin MountcastleRead
A weak soul does not have the endurance to resist the flesh for very long. It grows heavy, becomes flesh itself, and the contest ends. But among responsible men, men who keep their eyes riveted day and night upon the Supreme Duty, the conflict between flesh and spirit breaks out mercilessly and may last until death.
Nikos KazantzakisRead
Oh I've plenty of time, my time is entirely my own.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead