I've never been convinced that experience is linear, circular, or even random. It just is. I try to put it in some kind of order to extract meaning from it, to bring meaning to it.
Toni Cade BambaraRead
Take away the miseries and you take away some folks' reason for living.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the idea that suffering can give life meaning to some people.
Toni Cade Bambara's quote suggests that for certain individuals, the struggles and miseries they endure may serve as a vital part of their existence, providing them with purpose, identity, or a reason to persevere. In essence, the challenges faced can shape a person's character and motivations, indicating that the presence of hardship can sometimes fill the gaps that happiness might otherwise occupy. This underscores the complexity of human experience and emotions, where joy and suffering coexist and influence one's sense of being.
Themes
MiseriesLivingPurposeSufferingMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
More from Toni Cade Bambara
All quotes β(M)aybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people.
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Write a lot and hit the streets. A writer who doesn't keep up with what's out there ain't gonna be out there.
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I'll be damned if I want most folks out there to do unto me what they do unto themselves.
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The dream is real, my friends. The failure to make it work is the unreality.
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