I'm bred for farm work, and for such folk, the only A's you get come from effort. Strife and strain are all the world can offer, and they temper you into something unbreakable because Lord knows they'll try -- without let up -- to break you.
Interpretation
Hard work and perseverance are essential for resilience and personal growth.
This quote by Mary Karr emphasizes the importance of hard work and the challenges that often accompany it. It suggests that enduring difficult circumstances and striving to overcome obstacles not only builds strength but also shapes an individual into a resilient person. The 'A's' symbolize achievements that come from sincere effort, while the reference to 'strife and strain' highlights the unavoidable struggles that life presents, ultimately forging an unbreakable character through perseverance.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming personal challenges.
There's a space at the bottom of an exhale, a little hitch between taking in and letting out that's a perfect zero you can go into. There's a rest point between the heart muscle's close and open - an instant of keenest living when you're momentarily dead. You can rest there.
Mother’s particular devils had remained mysterious to me for decades. So had her past. Few born liars ever intentionally embark in truth’s direction, even those who believe that such a journey might axiomatically set them free.
I was 40 years old before I became an overnight success, and I'd been publishing for 20 years.
I always say that a poet loves the world, and the prose writer needs to create an alternative world.
Childhood was terrifying for me. A kid has no control. You're three feet tall, flat broke, unemployed, and illiterate. Terror snaps you awake. You pay keen attention. People can just pick you up and move you and put you down.
Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a switch and you’re not there anymore. It’s better than heroin. More effective and cheaper and legal.
Recipe for a long life: Only smoke while awake. Only run when being chased.
He thought how sad it was to be an Animal who had never had a bunch of violets picked for him.
Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.
And that's a life, isn't it? Some achievements and some disappointments. It's been interesting to me, though I wouldn't complain or be amazed if others found it less so. Maybe, in a way, Adrian knew what he was doing. Not that I would have missed my own life for anything, you understand. [pp.60-61]
The Rykiel woman? She doesn't have time to stop time. She's too busy running. In her hands she's carrying a tote, a baby, a book, a camera.
On these magic shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles. We too have been there; we can still hear the sound of the surf, though we shall land no more.
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