In my years, I have seen that people must be their own gods and make their own good fortune. The bad will come or not come anyway.
Interpretation
Individuals have the power to create their own success, irrespective of external circumstances.
This quote by Octavia Butler emphasizes the importance of self-agency in shaping one's destiny. It suggests that while challenges and negative events may occur in life, it is ultimately up to each person to take charge of their life, make positive choices, and forge their own path to success and happiness. Reliance on external forces or luck is insufficient; personal responsibility and action are crucial for achieving one's goals.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a motivational speech about taking control of one's life.
What I'm working on now - I'm back to fantasy, although considering that it's me, I'm turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It's a vampire story - but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn't become vampires because someone bit them; they were born that way.
Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.
Here I was into astronomy, and here into anthropology, and there I go into geology. It was much more fun to be able to research and write about whatever I wanted to.
There is no end To what a living world Will demand of you.
You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.
Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.
It's not uncool to worry about people who seem like they're going on the wrong path. There's nothing cool about being self-destructive.
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.
Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
In these simple words, Lord, is it I? lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change.
The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
I have always fought for ideas - until I learned that it isn't ideas but grief, struggle, and flashes of vision which enlighten.
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