It seems that fighting is a game where everybody is the loser.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Tain't no use in you cryin' . . . But folks is meant to cry 'bout somethin' or other. Better leave things de way dey is. Youse young yet. No tellin' whut mout happen befo' you die.
Interpretation
Acceptance of life's hardships is essential, while understanding that change is inevitable.
This quote reflects the notion that crying over life's struggles often doesn't change the situation, yet it acknowledges the human tendency to feel deeply about matters. Hurston suggests that while it may be better to accept things as they are, life is full of surprises, emphasizing the unpredictability and potential for change in one's life journey.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, this quote can highlight the importance of facing challenges with acceptance.
It seems that fighting is a game where everybody is the loser.
Lack of power and opportunity passes off too often for virtue.
From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom…It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep.
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me.
Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday.
Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.
It is fatal to look hungry. It makes people want to kick you.
I used to do crazy things that people would bail me out of, and I'm just grateful that I survived. But the music got very lost; I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. I was more into just having a good time, and I think it showed.
If heartaches was commercials, we'd all be on TV.
Life is about having a good time, and it was a good time. We did some things well and some things poorly, but that was always the case.
Ignoring fame was my rebellion, in a funny way. I was insistent on being normal and doing normal things. It probably wasn't advisable to go to college in America and room with a complete stranger. And it probably wasn't wise to share a bathroom with eight other people in a coed dorm. Looking back, that was crazy.
It's what I was born for, isn't it? If I don't go, why am I alive?
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