I don't feel any pressure from fans. But I'm always in some kind of state of emotional turmoil. I would not describe myself as happy-go-lucky. That's not to say that I'm not happy.
Paul SimonRead
I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told, and I have squandered my resistance, for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises. All lies in jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest...la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lala-la-la-la-la...
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the nature of how people selectively hear and interpret information based on their desires and beliefs.
This quote speaks to the human tendency to focus on what we want to believe while ignoring the uncomfortable truths that may surround us. The speaker, identifying as a 'poor boy' with a story often overlooked, conveys a sense of resignation to the world around him, recognizing that people often embrace false promises and assumptions, choosing comfort over reality, symbolized by the repeated 'la-la-la' refrain that suggests avoidance and denial.
Themes
PerceptionTruthDenialCommunicationBelief
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal responsibility, one could use this quote to highlight how people ignore inconvenient truths.
More from Paul Simon
All quotes →I sort of recognize it, as opposed to shaping it. Oh, that's a good idea, that's a good line. I wonder where I can use that. And when you get into a rhyme group like 'not,' you got a lot of rhymes, you got a lot of choices. The more you do it, the luckier you get.
Paul SimonRead
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Paul SimonRead
I don't believe what the papers are saying They're just out to capture my dime, Exaggerating this, exaggerating that.
Paul SimonRead
Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
Paul SimonRead
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.
Paul SimonRead
Similar quotes
The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.
Khalil GibranRead
Speak the truth._x000D_ Speak it loud and often, calmly but insistently,_x000D_ and speak it, as the Quakers say, to power._x000D_ Material accumulation is not the purpose of human existence._x000D_ All growth is not good._x000D_ The environment is a necessity, not a luxury._x000D_ There is such a thing as enough.
Donella MeadowsRead
Every time man makes a new experiment he always learns more. He cannot learn less.
R. Buckminster FullerRead
It's the problem with age. You have all these rusty arguments, and no quarrel to use them in. My brain is a museum, but alas, I'm the only visitor, and even I am not terribly interested in the displays.
Orson Scott CardRead
Mistakes are at the very base of human thought, embedded there, feeding the structure like root nodules. If we were not provided with the knack for being wrong, we could never get anything useful done. We think our way along by choosing between right and wrong alternatives, and the wrong choices have to be made as often as the right ones. We get along in life this way.
Lewis ThomasRead
Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
Dale CarnegieRead