People ask me a lot, 'How can you smile all the time?' I tell them, 'I was never angry. God created me this way. He created me laughing and smiling.'
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of a joyful disposition as a natural state of being.
Phan Thi Kim Phuc conveys that her constant smile is not a facade, but rather an intrinsic aspect of her personality. By attributing her happiness to a divine creation, she highlights a perspective that joy is innate and possibly a choice, regardless of external circumstances.
In practice
In a motivational speech about maintaining positivity during tough times.
I wished I died in that attack with my cousin, with my south Vietnamese soldiers. I wish I died at that time so I won't suffer like that anymore... it was so hard for me to carry all that burden with that hatred, with that anger and bitterness.
My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'
I never thought that the child who was a famous symbol of war would one day be invited to become a symbol of peace.
My dream is that one day, all people will live without fear, in real peace, with no fighting and no hostility.
For years I bore the crippling weight of anger, bitterness and resentment toward those who caused my suffering. Yet as I look back over a spiritual journey that has spanned more than three decades, I realize the same bombs that caused so much pain and suffering also brought me to a place of great healing. Those bombs led me to Jesus Christ.
The more I prayed for my enemies, the softer my heart became.
And lastly from that period I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.
Only a man who is happy can create happiness in others.
Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route.
Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy.
It sometimes strikes me how immensely fortunate I am that each day should take its place in my life, either reddened with the rising and setting sun, or refreshingly cool with deep, dark clouds, or blooming like a white flower in the moonlight. What untold wealth!
Do you wish the world were happy? Then remember day by day, just to scatter seeds of kindness as you pass along the way. . . .
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