When I have one martini, I feel bigger, wiser, taller. When I have a second, I feel superlative. When I have more, there's no holding me.
William FaulknerRead
People need trouble - a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Challenges and frustrations help us grow stronger and more resilient.
In this quote, William Faulkner emphasizes the importance of encountering difficulties and frustrations in life. He suggests that they are not merely obstacles, but necessary experiences that help to cultivate strength and character in individuals. Through challenges, we refine our spirits and learn to navigate the complexities of life more adeptly.
Themes
TroubleFrustrationStrengthSpiritGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker might use this quote to emphasize resilience during a tough workshop.
More from William Faulkner
All quotes βI feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth.
William FaulknerRead
When grown people speak of the innocence of children, they dont really know what they mean. Pressed, they will go a step further and say, Well, ignorance then. The child is neither. There is no crime which a boy of eleven had not envisaged long ago. His only innocence is, he may not be old enough to desire the fruits of it...his ignorance is, he does not know how to commit it...
William FaulknerRead
Maybe times are never strange to women: it is just one continuous monotonous thing full of the repeated follies of their menfolks.
William FaulknerRead
He had a word, too. Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn't need a word for that any more than for pride or fear....One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.
William FaulknerRead
Ever since then I have believed that God is not only a gentleman and a sport; he is a Kentuckian too.
William FaulknerRead
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But I deal with this by meditating and by understanding I've been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.
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Fresh from a costume fitting, where I had been posing in front of the mirror assuming what I thought was a strong position - arms folded, butch-looking...you know - I met with the woman in charge of Holloway police station. She gave me the most invaluable advice: never let them see you cry, and never cross your arms. When I asked why, she said 'because it is a defensive action and therefore weak.
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Now all my teachers are dead except silence.
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Our actions are in our own hands, but the consequences of them are not. Remember that, my dear, and think twice before you do anything.
Louisa May AlcottRead