I have remained true to my deepest convictions. I mean the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as comedy—for otherwise how can we manage to bear it?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the strength found in recognizing and embracing human flaws and failures through a lens of humor.
Penelope Fitzgerald's quote delves into the complexities of human experience, highlighting how courage can coexist with defeat and how misunderstandings can shape our lives. By treating life's tragedies with a sense of comedy, she suggests that humor serves as a coping mechanism that allows us to navigate our weaknesses and missed opportunities, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage resilience in facing challenges.
More than that, I believe that the grass is green because green is restful to the human eye, that the sky is blue to give us an idea of the infinite. And that blood is red so that murder will be more easily detected and criminals will be brought to justice. Yes, and I believe that I shall live forever, but I shall live without reason.
Experiences aren't given to us to be 'got over,' otherwise they would hardly be experiences.
However, no two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is - in other words, not a thing, but a think.
At one time, the earth was supposed to be flat. Well, so it is, even today, from Paris to Asnieres. But that fact doesn't prevent science from proving that the earth as a whole is spherical. No one nowadays denies it. Well...we are still at the stage of believing that life itself is flat, the distance from birth to death. Yet the probability is that life, too, is spherical and much more extensive and capacious than the hemisphere we know.
Money is far more persuasive than logical arguments.
He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can look fortune in the face, unbending both to good and bad; his countenance unconquered.
Hurried and worried until we're buried, and there's no curtain call, Lifes a very funny proposition after all.
I don't believe what the papers are saying They're just out to capture my dime, Exaggerating this, exaggerating that.
A desire arises in the mind. It is satisfied immediately another comes. In the interval which separates two desires a perfect calm reigns in the mind. It is at this moment freed from all thought, love or hate. Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves.
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