...Writings can be stolen, or changed, or used for evil purposes. But isn't the risk worth taking? The more people who share knowledge, the greater safeguard for it. Isn't there more danger in ignorance than knowledge?
Lloyd AlexanderRead
Llonio said life was a net for luck; to Hevydd the Smith life was a forge; and to Dwyvach the Weaver-Woman a loom. They spoke truly, for it is all of these. But you,' Taran said, his eyes meeting the potter's, 'you have shown me life is one thing more. It is clay to be shaped, as raw clay on a potter's wheel.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life can be seen from different perspectives, and ultimately it is something we can shape and create.
In this quote, Taran reflects on the various metaphors proposed by others about life, highlighting how it can be viewed as a net for luck, a forge, or a loom. However, he comes to realize that life is also like raw clay, suggesting that individuals have the power to mold their own destinies and experiences through their choices and actions.
Themes
LifeCreationDestinyMoldingPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one might use this quote to illustrate how we can shape our own lives.
More from Lloyd Alexander
All quotes →Long ago I yearned to be a hero without knowing, in truth, what a hero was. Now, perhaps, I understand it a little better. A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king--every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone. Once you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain.
Lloyd AlexanderRead
Perhaps one reason we are fascinated by cats is because such a small animal can contain so much independence, dignity, and freedom of spirit. Unlike the dog, the cat's personality is never bet on a human's. He demands acceptance on his own terms.
Lloyd AlexanderRead
We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.
Lloyd AlexanderRead
In whatever guise - our own daily nightmares of war, intolerance, inhumanity or the struggles of an Assistant Pig-Keeper against the Lord of Death - the problems are agonizingly familiar. And an openness to compassion, love, and mercy is as essential to us here and now as it is to any inhabitant of an imaginary kingdom.
Lloyd AlexanderRead
Similar quotes
The wars we fought were forced upon us. Thanks to the Israel Defense Forces, we won them all, but we did not win the greatest victory that we aspired to: release from the need to win victories.
Shimon PeresRead
When a gift is difficult to give away, it becomes even more rare and precious, somehow gathering a part of the giver to the gift itself.
Cate BlanchettRead
While it is useful to rebut charges and get your arguments out in circulation, you have to understand that arguments and evidence have little impact on people as long as their feelings tilt them against you.
Jonathan HaidtRead
Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character.
George Bernard ShawRead
Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer Nazis gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
A good traveller is one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveller does not know where he came from.
Lin YutangRead