We wait till now? Now, when we're old men, we get to be brave?
Ernest GainesRead
There will always be men struggling to change, and there will always be those who are controlled by the past.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the ongoing struggle between those who strive to evolve and those who remain trapped by their history.
Ernest Gaines emphasizes the duality of human experiences regarding change. While some individuals actively seek personal growth and transformation, others remain entrapped in their past experiences, inhibiting their ability to progress. This statement reflects a universal truth about the human condition, suggesting that the journey toward self-improvement is a continual battle against the weight of history and personal limitations.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a personal development workshop to inspire participants to embrace change.
We wait till now? Now, when we're old men, we get to be brave?
I was raised by a lady that was crippled all her life but she did everything for me and she raised me. She washed our clothes, cooked our food, she did everything for us. I don't think I ever heard her complain a day in her life. She taught me responsibility towards my brother and sisters and the community.
...my heart may have been in it but my soul was not.
Everything's been said, but it needs saying again.
Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything.
The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.
Development comes from within. Nature does not hurry but advances slowly.
If you're the village blacksmith and a model T comes along, you better become a mechanic. People's lives are better when they get news online versus having to wait for the morning paper. It's a lot more efficient, a lot more real time, a lot less waste.
In any situation that we find in our lives, when there is something that we feel should be better, we must exert effort to try and make it better. So it's the same socially, musically, politically in any department of our lives.
We cannot change the way the world is, but by opening ourselves to the world as it is, we may find that gentleness, decency and bravery are available - not only to us, but to all human beings.
Just because they broke the law doesn't mean they're condemned forever to a twilight status. So, I think that most Americans, if these people who have come illegally, as long as they pay back taxes, pay a fine, learn English and get behind everybody else, that's a key element of it. And most Americans now realize we can't have 11 million people sit in the twilight - the shadows of America, forever.
Living through times of rapid change can be exhilarating, but it also can be very difficult.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.