I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Samuel BeckettRead
Estragon: I can't go on like this._x000D_ Vladimir: That's what you think.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the struggle of continuing in difficult situations while challenging the perception of hopelessness.
In this exchange between Estragon and Vladimir from Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot', the dialogue conveys a profound sense of existential despair. Estragon feels overwhelmed and believes he cannot continue, representing a common human sentiment during tough times. Vladimir counters with 'That's what you think,' suggesting that belief in oneβs inability to proceed may be misleading. The conversation encapsulates the struggle between despair and the resilience to endure, highlighting the complexity of human existence.
Themes
ExistentialismDespairEnduranceResilienceContinuity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about resilience in the face of adversity.
More from Samuel Beckett
All quotes βNothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
Samuel BeckettRead
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
Samuel BeckettRead
And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
Samuel BeckettRead
I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
Samuel BeckettRead
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
Samuel BeckettRead
Similar quotes
It is possible to argue that the really influential book is not that which converts ten millions of casual readers, but rather that which converts the very few who, at any given moment, succeed in seizing power. Marx and Sorel have been influential in the modern world, not so much because they were best-sellers (Sorel in particular was not at all a widely read author), but because among their few readers were two men, called respectively Lenin and Mussolini.
Aldous HuxleyRead
If ever you wish to meet intellectual frauds in quantity, go to Paris.
V. S. NaipaulRead
It is never on account of its formal nature as a psychic act that faith is conceived in Scripture to be saving. It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or nature of faith, but in the object of faith.
B. B. WarfieldRead
If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge.
William ShakespeareRead
It is hard to know when we have done enough for the Atonement to change our natures and so qualify us for eternal life. And we don't know how many days we will have to give the service necessary for that mighty change to come. But we know that we will have days enough if only we don't waste them.
Henry B. EyringRead
God the Father, the supreme Architect, had already built this cosmic home we behold, the most sacred temple of His godhead, by the laws of His mysterious wisdom.
Giovanni Pico Della MirandolaRead