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Bunkum and tummyrot! You'll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. Would Columbus have discovered America if he'd said 'What if I sink on the way over? What if I meet pirates? What if I never come back?' He wouldn't even have started.
Roald Dahl
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Overthinking potential pitfalls can prevent you from taking action.

Roald Dahl emphasizes the importance of taking risks and moving forward instead of being paralyzed by fear of failure. He illustrates this point through the hypothetical scenario of Christopher Columbus, who would never have set sail to discover America had he allowed his imagination to be consumed by 'what if' concerns.

Themes

MotivationRiskActionFearSuccess

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech to students about pursuing their dreams.

More from Roald Dahl

The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.
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Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable.
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I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to have stories that deal with death and explain it, as a place to put their fears.
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By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.
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You seemed so far away," Miss Honey whispered, awestruck. "Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings," Matilda said. "It was wonderful.
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If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
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