The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you're not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one.
Herman WoukRead
Let us fill a cup and drink to that most noble, ridiculous, laughable, sublime figure in our lives... The Young Man Who Was. Let us drink to his dreams, for they were rainbow-colored; to his appetites, for they were strong; to his blunders, for they were huge; to his pains for they were sharp; to his time for it was brief; and to his end, for it was to become one of us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexities and the bittersweet nature of youth, celebrating both its dreams and failures.
Herman Wouk's quote poetically captures the essence of youth, portraying it as a transient yet profoundly impactful period in life. The 'Young Man Who Was' symbolizes the universal journey through aspirations, mistakes, and experiences that shape an individual. By raising a cup in homage, Wouk emphasizes the beauty and absurdity of youth's dreams and the inevitable acceptance of one's human condition as they transition into adulthood.
Themes
YouthDreamsLifeBlundersExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation toast, this quote can be used to celebrate the journey of youth.
More from Herman Wouk
All quotes →The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?" Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you will never go wrong.
Herman WoukRead
I learned about machinery, I learned how men behaved under pressure, and I learned about Americans.
Herman WoukRead
The door available to everyone that can lead to happiness & success is the modest door of the public library. I found it to be so in my own life and work.
Herman WoukRead
Every hour spent on the Caine was a great hour in all our lives-if you don't think so now you will later on, more and more.
Herman WoukRead
War is a business in which a lot of people watch a few people get killed and are damn glad it wasn't them.
Herman WoukRead
Similar quotes
My life will be the best illustration of all my work.
Hans Christian AndersenRead
Growing up means letting go of the dearest megalomaniacal dreams of our childhood. Growing up means knowing they can't be fulfilled. Growing up means gaining the wisdom and the skills to get what we want within the limitations imposed by reality - a reality which consists of diminished powers, restricted freedoms and, with the people we love, imperfect connections.
Judith ViorstRead
In real life we don't know what's going to happen next. So how can you be that way on a stage? Being alive to the possibility of not knowing exactly how everything is going to happen next - if you can find places to have that happen onstage, it can resonate with an experience of living.
Sam ShepardRead
I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.
Sylvia PlathRead
It's the most satisfying occupation man has discovered yet, because you never can quite do it as well as you want to, so there's always something to wake up tomorrow morning to do.
William FaulknerRead
Youth is not a vanished thing but something that dwells forever in the heart.
Lucy Maud MontgomeryRead