You can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of independence and self-reliance in life.
Jeannette Walls' quote highlights a crucial lesson for both parents and children: the need to embrace challenges and learn vital life skills, such as resilience and adaptability. Clinging to safety can prevent personal growth and lead to stagnation; therefore, learning to navigate difficulties—symbolized by swimming—empowers individuals to thrive despite adversities.
In practice
A parent can share this quote when encouraging their child to try new activities without fear of failure.
I was in control of what people thought of me, but I had no control over what they thought of my mother. When I asked my mother, 'How do I tell people about you?' her answer was, 'Tell the truth'. But of course, the truth is never simple.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to things like the sunrise, but that old sun had been coming up anyway. It didn’t really care how I felt, it was going to rise and set regardless of whether I noticed it, and if I was going to enjoy it, that was up to me.
In my opinion, trying to guess what readers want is the wrong approach. You have to tell your story as best you can and as true to yourself as possible. You have to be honest and fair and vulnerable and foolish and brave, and not care what anyone thinks of it.
Some people who've read my story think I had a terrible childhood and that I was neglected or even abused, while others feel that my parents, while certainly flawed, also had truly wonderful qualities. And that's the way it should be, because in real life two people can look at the same president and one will see a hero and the other a villain.
When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.
I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.
I don't regret anything I've ever done; as long as I enjoyed it at the time
I breakfast when I get up, lunch when I get the chance. If I never get it, I forget it. Sometimes I dine at seven, sometimes at midnight, sometimes not at all; and I never get to bed until four or five in the morning. Everything depends on the news; the hours make no difference to me.
I suppose like others I have come through fire and sword, love gone wrong, head-on crashes, drunk at sea, and I have listened to the simple sound of water running in tubs and wished to drown
Upon the demon-ridden pilgrimage of human life, what next I wonder.
We don't beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.
Timing is the essence of life, and definitely of comedy.
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