There's life for you. Spend the best years of your life studying penmanship and rhetoric and syntax and Beowulf and George Eliot, and then somebody steals your pencil.
Dorothy ParkerRead
This living, this living, this living Was never a project of mine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is unpredictable and often not what we plan for.
Dorothy Parker's quote reflects on the often unplanned and chaotic nature of life. It suggests that despite our aspirations and projects, the essence of living may not align with what we consciously set out to achieve, highlighting the spontaneity of human experience and existence.
Themes
LifeExistenceUnpredictabilityChaosPlans
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about embracing life's unexpected turns, I illustrated with Parker's quote.
More from Dorothy Parker
All quotes →My land is bare of chattering folk; / the clouds are low along the ridges, / and sweet's the air with curly smoke / from all my burning bridges.
Dorothy ParkerRead
Prince or commoner, tenor or bass, Painter or plumber or never-do-well, Do me a favor and shut your face - Poets alone should kiss and tell.
Dorothy ParkerRead
They say of me, and so they should, It's doubtful if I come to good. I see acquaintances and friends Accumulating dividends And making enviable names In science, art and parlor games. But I, despite expert advice, Keep doing things I think are nice, And though to good I never come Inseparable my nose and thumb.
Dorothy ParkerRead
It is that word 'hunny,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up.
Dorothy ParkerRead
I can’t write five words but that I change seven.
Dorothy ParkerRead
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