Dirt's a funny thing,' the Boss said. 'Come to think of it, there ain't a thing but dirt on this green God's globe except what's under water, and that's dirt too. It's dirt makes the grass grow. A diamond ain't a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got awful hot. And God-a-Mighty picked up a handful of dirt and blew on it and made you and me and George Washington and mankind blessed in faculty and apprehension. It all depends on what you do with the dirt. That right?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the essential nature of dirt as a fundamental element of life and creation, emphasizing that our perspective on it shapes its value.
In this quote by Robert Penn Warren, the speaker philosophizes about dirt, illustrating its significance in the natural world and human existence. It suggests that everything, including valuable entities like diamonds and the very creation of humans, originates from dirt. The notion that it all 'depends on what you do with the dirt' implies that our choices and actions define the value and meaning of our lives, encouraging us to reflect on how we perceive and utilize our circumstances.
In practice
In a discussion about creativity and potential, one might reference this quote to illustrate how humble beginnings can lead to great outcomes.
...the air so still it aches like the place where the tooth was on the morning after you’ve been to the dentist or aches like your heart in the bosom when you stand on the street corner waiting for the light to change and happen to recollect how things once were and how they might have been yet if what happened had not happened.
The poem is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful.
And what we students of history always learn is that the human being is a very complicated contraption and that they are not good or bad but are good and bad and the good comes out of the bad and the bad out of the good, and the devil take the hindmost.
Yet the definition we have made of ourselves is ourselves. To break out of it, we must make a new self. But how can the self make a new self when the selflessness which it is, is the only substance from which the new self can be made?
So little time we live in Time,_x000D_ _x000D_ And we learn all so painfully,_x000D_ _x000D_ That we may spare this hour's term_x000D_ _x000D_ To practice for Eternity.
For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest part of autobiography.
Use justice to rule a country. Use surprise to wage war. Use non-action to govern the world.
When people call people nerds, mostly what they're saying is, 'you like stuff.' Which is not a good insult at all, like, 'you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human conscience.
If you have not linked yourself to true emptiness, you will never understand the art of peace.
The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.
We came whirling out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust... _x000D_ The stars made a circle, and in the middle, we dance.
I looked at it [revolver] as if it reminded me of a crime I had committed with an irrepressible smile such as rises sometimes to people’s lips in the face of great catastrophes which are beyond their grasp, the smile that comes at times on certain women’s faces while they are saying they regret the harm they have done. It is the smile of nature quietly and proudly asserting its natural right to kill.
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