The comic spirit is given to us in order that we may analyze, weigh, and clarify things in us which nettle us, or which we are outgrowing, or trying to reshape
Thornton WilderRead
The test of an adventure is that when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself "Oh now I've got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home. And the sign that something's wrong with you is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having lots of adventure.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Adventures often bring challenges and discomfort, making us long for comfort, but true fulfillment comes from embracing those challenges.
Thornton Wilder conveys that the essence of an adventure is marked by the struggle and the chaos it brings, which can make us yearn for the simplicity and safety of home. However, if you find yourself desiring the comfort of home over seeking out new adventures, it reflects a deeper unhappiness or dissatisfaction with life, indicating that embracing adventure is essential for a fulfilling existence.
Themes
AdventureDiscomfortHomeLongingFulfillment
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing new experiences.
More from Thornton Wilder
All quotes →A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in a mighty public way.
Thornton WilderRead
Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners... Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking... and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths...and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
Thornton WilderRead
When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.
Thornton WilderRead
Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech.
Thornton WilderRead
I want you to try and remember what it was like to have been very young. And particularly the days when you were first in love; when you were like a person sleepwalking, and you didn’t quite see the street you were in, and didn’t quite hear everything that was said to you. You’re just a little bit crazy. Will you remember that, please?
Thornton WilderRead
Similar quotes
Hiking the PCT was the maddening effort of knitting that sweater and unraveling it over and over again. As if everything gained was inevitably lost
Cheryl StrayedRead
Adventure is a path...Real adventure - self-determined , self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world.
Mark JenkinsRead
There are three elements of mountaineering - difficulty, danger, and exposure. Difficulty is the technical aspect of it. Danger, it is best to avoid, but some people like to increase danger to a point where their success is dependent only on luck. And exposure, which is what truly defines Alpinism, is what you face in wild nature.
Reinhold MessnerRead
His love of danger, his intense appreciation of the drama of an adventure--all the more intense for being held tightly in--his consistent view that every peril in life is a form of sport, a fierce game betwixt you and Fate, with Death as a forfeit, made him a wonderful companion at such hours.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
Adventure is something out of the usual pattern, a point at which you cannot avoid confronting the unknown, so that you have to dig inside yourself to find the courage and resources to deal with what may lie ahead, and to succeed.
Bertrand PiccardRead
Look at The Adventure. A boat by night is a wonderful sight. This is the way to start a new life, with a hurricane lamp shining at the top of the mast, and the coastline disappearing behind one as the whole world lies sleeping. Making a journey by night is more wonderful than anything in the world.
Tove JanssonRead