Dying is a matter of slapstick and pratfalls. The ageing process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
John MortimerRead
I'd been told of all the things you're meant to feel when your father dies. Sudden freedom, growing up, the end of dependence, the step into the sunlight when no one is taller than you and you're in no one's shadow. I know what I felt. Lonely.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complex emotions experienced after the death of a father, contrasting expected feelings with the reality of loneliness.
John Mortimer's quote captures the profound emotional impact of losing a father. While societal expectations suggest that one might feel liberated or independent upon such a loss, the speaker candidly shares their authentic experience of feeling lonely, highlighting the deeply personal and often solitary nature of grief. This illustrates a disconnect between societal perceptions of loss and the true, intimate feelings that arise during such a significant moment in life.
Themes
GriefLossLonelinessFatherDependenceFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about coping with loss, one might use this quote to illustrate the unexpected feelings that arise during grief.
More from John Mortimer
All quotes →The aging process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over, and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
John MortimerRead
Writing about the indignities of old age: the daunting stairway to the restaurant restroom, the benefits of a wheelchair in airports and its disadvantages at cocktail parties, giving the user what he described as a child's-eye view of the party and a crotch-level view of the guests. Dying is a matter of slapstick and pratfalls. The aging process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
John MortimerRead
There are lots of similarities between being a writer and a lawyer: to tell a story to a jury, hold their attention, make them laugh, make them like you. But what makes being a barrister less satisfying than being a writer is, finally, that it's about what someone else wants you to say.
John MortimerRead
I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward.
John MortimerRead
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