But it is not the job of truth to make us feel good. It is the job of truth to be true, and it is our job to deal with it.
William DeresiewiczRead
Don't play it safe. Resist the seductions of the cowardly values our society has come to prize so highly: comfort, convenience, security, predictability, control. These, too, are nets. Above all, resist the fear of failure. Yes, you will make mistakes. But they will be your mistakes, not someone else's. And you will survive them, and you will know yourself better for having made them, and you will be a fuller and a stronger person.
Interpretation
Embrace risks and face failure, as doing so leads to personal growth and self-discovery.
William Deresiewicz's quote encourages individuals to move beyond societal norms that prioritize safety and control. By taking risks and confronting the fear of failure, one can experience personal growth and develop a deeper understanding of oneself. Making mistakes is a part of life, and rather than succumbing to the comfort of predictability, embracing challenges can lead to a more fulfilling and resilient existence.
In practice
In a motivational speech about entrepreneurship, one could use this quote to inspire resilience in the face of business challenges.
But it is not the job of truth to make us feel good. It is the job of truth to be true, and it is our job to deal with it.
It is the harassers and assaulters who make us 'look bad,' not the women who have every right to expose crimes against them.
The IWW [Industrial Workers of the World] has been accused of pushing women to the front. This is not true. Rather, the women have not been kept in back, and so they have naturally moved to the front.
I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in yourself, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.
I think people resist freedom because they're afraid of the unknown. But it's ironic....That unknown was once very well known. It's where our souls belong....The only solution is to confront them - confront yourself - with the greatest fear imaginable. Expose yourself to your deepest fear. After that, fear has no power, and fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
I'm not ashamed to dress "like a woman" because I don't think it's shameful to be a woman.
Thus thought I, as by night I read Of the great army of the dead, The trenches cold and damp, The starved and frozen camp,-- The wounded from the battle-plain, In dreary hospitals of pain, The cheerless corridors, The cold and stony floors. Lo! in that house of misery A lady with a lamp I see Pass through the glimmering gloom And flit from room to room. And slow, as in a dream of bliss, The speechless sufferer turns to kiss Her shadow, as it falls Upon the darkening walls.
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