It is not enough to reach for the brass ring. You must also enjoy the merry go round.
Interpretation
Striving for goals is important, but one must also find joy in the journey.
This quote emphasizes that while achieving one's goals (symbolized by reaching for the brass ring) is significant, it is equally crucial to appreciate and enjoy the experiences and moments that accompany the pursuit of those goals (represented by the merry-go-round). Life is not solely about reaching milestones but also about savouring the process and experiences along the way.
In practice
In a graduation speech, one might say this to encourage students to appreciate their time in school as much as their future careers.
I've learned a lot of things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn`t really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life.
Singing has been a cherished gift, and my inability to sing has been a devastating blow.
My mother was terribly important to me, and I know how much I yearned for her in my youth, but I don't think I truly trusted her.
I come from a long line of below-stairs maids and gardeners. Good ol' peasant stock. My mother and her sister made a quantum leap out of that life. Then I made another quantum leap.
Every time I go out to perform, believe me. You never lose that fear of, 'I hope I do it right. I hope I don't fall flat on my face. I hope this will be good for them.'
Success is terrifying. Like happiness, it is often appreciated in retrospect. It's only later that you place it in perspective. Years from now, I'll look back and say, βGod, wasn't it wonderful.β
With confidence, he open the door of life presented to him.
I'd made it back to the land of the living. No matter how boring or mediocre a world it might be, this was it.
I didn't remember what month that was, or what year even. I only knew the memory lived in me, a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past, a brushstroke of color on the gray, barren canvas that our lives had become.
I don't know what is the meaning of death, but I am not afraid to die - and I go on, non-stop, going forward with life. Even though I, Bruce Lee, may die some day without fulfilling all of my ambitions, I will have no regrets. I did what I wanted to do and what I've done, I've done with sincerity and to the best of my ability. You can't expect much more from life.
This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.
My public is growing up just as I am. After all, I'm not 19 anymore and if I stick with the sex bit, who will be paying to see me when I'm 50?
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