If I had not some strength of will I would make a first class drunkard.
Ernest ShackletonRead
After months of want and hunger, we suddenly found ourselves able to have meals fit for the gods, and with appetites the gods might have envied.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the joy of overcoming adversity and experiencing abundance after a period of struggle.
In this quote, Ernest Shackleton conveys the transformative experience of moving from scarcity to abundance. After enduring significant hardships, the speaker expresses the joy and gratitude of having enough to eat, suggesting that their previous struggles make the newfound abundance feel even more significant and enjoyable. It highlights the contrast between want and fulfillment, emphasizing that experiencing hunger can deepen appreciation for the pleasures of life.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience and recovery.
If I had not some strength of will I would make a first class drunkard.
Now my eyes are turned from the South to the North, and I want to lead one more Expedition. This will be the last... to the North Pole.
I have often marveled at the thin line which separates success from failure.
(Was he talking about a polar expedition, or marriage?) -Jorge Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground.
I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion.
If you truly want to grow as a person and learn, you should realize that the universe has enrolled you in the graduate program of life, called loss.
Listen, I know how old I am and that I'm just a shoulder injury from losing roles like the one in Taken. So I stay with the training, I stay with the work. It’s easy enough to plan jobs, to plan a lot of work. That's effective. But that’s the weird thing about grief. You can’t prepare for it. You think you’re gonna cry and get it over with. You make those plans, but they never work.
I loved running, but all of a sudden everything hurt so much. I started cycling when Zelda was born.
Everything in life is unusual until you get accustomed to it -The Scarecrow - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 103 chapter 13
The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep.
Life does not acommodate you, it shatters you. It is meant to, and it couldn't do it better. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.