The older I get, the more I believe in what I can't explain or understand, even more than the things that are explainable and understandable.
Interpretation
As we age, we may find greater value in the mysteries of life than in rational explanations.
Lillian Gish’s quote reflects the wisdom that often comes with age, suggesting that as we grow older, we may become more inclined to embrace the unknown and the inexplicable aspects of life. This perspective highlights the limitations of rationality and encourages a deeper appreciation for the mysteries and wonders that cannot easily be understood, recognizing that these elements can hold significant meaning in our lives.
In practice
A public speaking event discussing the role of faith in understanding our lives as we age.
You know, when I first went into the movies Lionel Barrymore played my grandfather. Later he played my father and finally he played my husband. If he had lived I'm sure I would have played his mother. That's the way it is in Hollywood. The men get younger and the women get older.
I never approved of talkies. Silent movies were well on their way to developing an entirely new art form. It was not just pantomine, but something wonderfully expressive.
The stage was our school, our home, our life.
I've never been in style, so I can't go out of style.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
When God's justice falls, we are offended because we think God owes perpetual mercy. We must not take His grace for granted. We must never lose our capacity to be amazed by grace
I believe that a worthwhile life is defined by a kind of spiritual journey and a sense of obligation.
There are more fools than knaves in the world, else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.
Without desire there is stillness, and the world settles by itself.
Yet when the blood of the sons of immigrants and the grandsons of slaves fell on foreign fields, it was American blood. In it you could not read the ethnic particulars of the soldier who died next to you. He was an American. And when I think of how we learned this lesson, I wonder how we could have unlearned it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.