True peace of mind comes from accepting the worst. Psychologically, I think it means a release of energy.
Lin YutangRead
Reality - Dreams = Animal Being Reality + Dreams = A Heart-Ache (usually called Idealism) Reality + Humor = Realism (also called Conservatism) Dreams - Humor = Fanaticism Dreams + Humor = Fantasy Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote illustrates the relationship between reality, dreams, and humor in shaping our understanding of life.
Lin Yutang's quote explores the complex interplay between reality and dreams, suggesting that each has a significant role in human experience. He indicates that without humor, dreams can lead to unrealistic idealism or fanaticism, whereas humor combined with reality and dreams contributes to wisdom, providing a balanced perspective on life. This reflection emphasizes the necessity of humor in navigating the intricacies of existence, ultimately advocating for a thoughtful approach to understanding our place in the world.
Themes
RealityDreamsHumorWisdomIdealismFanaticismRealism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of balancing ambitions with practical perspectives.
More from Lin Yutang
All quotes βAll women's dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
Lin YutangRead
This I conceive to be the chemical function of humor: to change the character of our thought.
Lin YutangRead
If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
Lin YutangRead
It is that unoccupied space which makes a room habitable, as it is our leisure hours which make life endurable.
Lin YutangRead
The wise man reads both books and life itself.
Lin YutangRead
Similar quotes
The wing of the Falcon brings to the king, the wing if the crow brings him to the cemetery.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.
David HumeRead
Man is able to do what he is unable to imagine. His head trails a wake through the galaxy of the absurd.
Rene CharRead
The fourth (of the four cardinal virtues) is supportiveness: this manifests as service to others without expectation of reward. (Paraphrased: Such service is not a mere conforming to some external rule of behavior, but instead a manifestation of your original nature).
LaoziRead
Writing is a political instrument.
James A. BaldwinRead
The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds.
Paul ValeryRead