For a culture that has such a problem with death, we seem to deal with it in a quite bizarre way. We see people shot, killed and blown up, and we find it funny and sexy and all those things. But, the reality of it is that every day people die, and people are really sad and they grieve and they go through a really difficult process with it.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the contrast between society's trivialization of death and the profound sorrow it brings to individuals.
Michael Sheen critiques societal attitudes towards death, suggesting that while we often portray death in a sensationalized and humorous way, the reality is that it brings deep sadness and grieving to those affected. He underscores the disconnect between the cultural fascination with violence and the genuine emotional pain experienced in the face of loss.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the portrayal of violence in media.
I find increasingly that the more extreme are the things going on in your life, the more cultural reference points fail you. More mythical reference points actually help, and you realise that's what myths are for. It's for human beings to process their experience in extremis.
Stories have always been the things that entertain me and make me feel happy and sad and move me and give me the experience of being able to live many lives in one lifetime. It's the best thing about being alive.
When I was at drama school, I wanted to change the world, and thought I had some great wisdom to impart to people about humanity. Now that I'm older, I know enough to realise that I know nothing at all.
Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes.
What we call our data are really our own constructions of other people’s constructions of what they and their compatriots are up to.
It is not the germs we need worry about. It is our inner terrain.
I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger.
Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenor of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal?
War is sweet for those who haven't experienced it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.