Indeed it is possible to stand with one foot on the inevitable 'banana peel' of life with both eyes peering into the Great Beyond, and still be happy, comfortable, and serene - if we will even so much as smile.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that one can find happiness and serenity despite the uncertainties and challenges of life.
Douglas Fairbanks highlights the idea that life is inherently uncertain and filled with potential pitfalls, metaphorically represented by the 'banana peel.' However, he posits that even in the face of these inevitable challenges, we have the power to choose our mindset. By smiling and embracing a positive perspective, we can maintain a sense of happiness, comfort, and serenity.
In practice
In a motivational speech about resilience, one could use this quote to inspire the audience to maintain a positive outlook despite life's challenges.
The man who is gloomy, taciturn and lives in a world of doubt seldom achieves more than a bare living. There have been a few who have groaned their way through to a competence, but in proportion to that overwhelming number of souls who carry cheer through life, they are as nothing - mere drops in the bucket.
Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive
Sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn't it, to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives instead of actually living them; that we're living the fast life instead of the good life. And I think, for many people, that wake-up call takes the form of an illness.
Until-as often happened during those first months travel, whenever I would feel such happiness-my guilt alarm went off. I heard my ex-husband's voice speaking disdainfully in my ear: So this is what you gave up everything for? This is why you gutted our entire life together? For a few stalks of asparagus and an Italian newspaper? I replied aloud to him: "First of all," I said, "I'm very sorry, but this isn't your business anymore. And secondly, to answer you question...yes.
I don't think I would have been a writer if I hadn't been a mother. I wanted to construct something that contained some of these feelings that I had, some of these discoveries or revelations.
Don't lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don't have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith. Be true blue. You are a writer because you write. Keep writing and quit your bitching. Your book has a birthday. You don't know what it is yet.
I feel like the world stopped. And I got off...and then it started spinning again, but too fast for me to hop back on. I feel like I'm still trying to get a...to get some kind of foothold on living
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.