It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
Interpretation
Engaging in life's challenges is more valuable than being a passive observer.
This quote emphasizes the importance of taking risks and actively participating in life's endeavors, regardless of the potential for failure or difficulty. It suggests that facing challenges head-on is a more honorable and enriching experience than remaining a safe distance away, where one misses the opportunity to grow and learn from real-life experiences.
In practice
This quote can inspire individuals during a motivational speech about embracing challenges.
Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.
Courage means going against majority opinion in the name of the truth.
Drink is the only opponent I have been unable to beat.
We pray that Aung San Suu Kyi and her country are now on a path to freedom
The truly fearless think of themselves as normal.
Coraline shivered. She preferred her other mother to have a location: if she were nowhere, then she could be anywhere. And, after all, it is always easier to be afraid of something you cannot see.
I was not athletically inclined. I was very quiet, introverted, non-confrontational. My three older brothers were athletes - basketball, football - but I was kind of a momma's boy. Then one day, my brother Roger encouraged me to go to the boxing gym with him. I tried the gloves on, and it just felt so natural.
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