Where would you like to go, what would you really like to do with your life? See Istanbul, Port Said, Nairobi, Budapest. Write a book. Smoke too many cigarettes. Fall off a cliff but get caught in a tree halfway down. Get shot at a few times in a dark alley on a Morrocan midnight. Love a beautiful woman.
Interpretation
This quote encourages individuals to explore their true desires and aspirations in life, no matter how adventurous or unconventional they may seem.
Ray Bradbury's quote emphasizes the importance of pursuing one's true passions and experiences in life. It highlights the notion that life should be lived fully, embracing both the thrilling and the mundane, while underscoring the value of love and adventure. The diverse activities mentioned reflect a spectrum of experiences that contribute to a richly lived life, suggesting that one should not shy away from risks and profound moments of connection.
In practice
In a motivational speech at a youth conference, someone could use this quote to inspire young individuals to chase their dreams.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
Movement is life. Life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself.
Growing up is, after all, only the understanding that one's unique and incredible experience is what every one shares.
The homes I like the best are totally occupied, busy, and useful, whether it's a tiny little house or a great big one. Rarely do you find a great big house that's used in a good way. So I prefer smaller spaces that are full of books, full of things that people are doing.
Get into the habit of saying, ''Speak, Lord,'' and life will become a romance.
People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying school masters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years. Above all -- we were wet.
Variability is the law of life, and as no two faces are the same, so no two bodies are alike, and no two individuals react alike and behave alike under the abnormal conditions which we know as disease.
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