I was studying the sky like I was an astronomer, except it was daytime and I didn't have a telescope, so I was just an idiot.
Interpretation
The speaker humorously likens their wandering thoughts to an astronomer's work, highlighting the absurdity of trying to study something beyond reach without proper tools.
In this quote, Sherman Alexie reflects on the futility and humor of trying to understand the complexities of life or thoughts without the necessary tools, akin to an astronomer studying the sky without a telescope during the day. The self-deprecating humor emphasizes our human tendency to engage in seemingly pointless or foolish pursuits, making us reflect on our own aspirations and the inherent limitations in our understanding.
In practice
This quote can be used in a light-hearted speech about the importance of recognizing our limitations.
Gordie, the white boy genius, gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians, and he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reasons: the frikkin' booze.
My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.
I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it. If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.
We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.
I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.
There was a time when people said, 'Jim, if you keep on making faces, your face will freeze like that.' Now they just say, 'Pay him!'
Indigestion is charged by God with enforcing morality on the stomach.
The exquisite code of politeness of the Woosters prevented me clipping her one on the ear-hole, but I would have given a shilling to be able to do it. There seemed to me something deliberately fat-headed in the way she persisted in missing the gist.
The truthiness is, anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news 'at' you.
I was in NYC during 9/11; it happened on a Tuesday, I was on stage Thursday. It was a small crowd, but it took about 10 days and comedy clubs were packed.
Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost.
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