Was it always my nature to take a bad time and block out the good times, until any success became an accident and failure seemed the only truth?
Lillian HellmanRead
It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.
Interpretation
Acting with confidence can often lead to better outcomes, even if you feel uncertain.
This quote emphasizes the importance of confidence in our actions. Lillian Hellman suggests that even in situations where one may feel inadequate or unqualified, presenting oneself with assurance can enhance perception and potentially influence the results positively. Confidence can often overshadow doubts and uncertainties, allowing individuals to navigate challenges more effectively.
In practice
Using this quote in a motivational speech to encourage students to participate confidently in class discussions.
Was it always my nature to take a bad time and block out the good times, until any success became an accident and failure seemed the only truth?
If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.
If you believe, as the Greeks did, that man is at the mercy of the gods, then you write tragedy. The end is inevitable from the beginning. But if you believe that man can solve his own problems and is at nobody's mercy, then you will probably write melodrama.
Nobody knows what you want except you. And nobody will be as sorry as you if you don't get it. Wanting some other way to live is proof enough of deserving it. Having it is hard work, but not having it is sheer hell.
Failure in the theater is more dramatic and uglier than any other form of writing. It costs so much, you feel so guilty.
It is not good to see people who have been pretending strength all their lives lose it even for a minute.
I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let's face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what's sexy. And men define what's feminine. It's ridiculous.
"My former master taught me to accept birth and death." "Then what have you come to me for?" asked the master. "To learn to accept what lies in between."
Happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending.
We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.
Increasingly, people seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling -- the incomprehensible should cause suspicion rather than admiration.
Fear of ideas makes us impotent and ineffective.
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