No one's ever dared come out and say it before, but there's not a man among us that doesn't think it, that doesn't feel just as you do about her and the whole business - feel it somewhere down deep in his scared little soul.
Ken KeseyRead
Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. He knows there's a painful side; he knows my thumb smarts and his girlfriend has a bruised breast and the doctor is losing his glasses, but he won't let the pain blot out the humor no more'n he'll let the humor blot out the pain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of balancing humor with pain in life.
Ken Kesey expresses a profound understanding of the duality of human experience, where laughter serves as a coping mechanism against the inevitable suffering and challenges we face. He suggests that one must acknowledge both the painful aspects of life and the moments of humor, asserting that neither should overshadow the other, thus maintaining a healthy balance in one's emotional state.
Themes
HumorPainBalanceLifeCoping
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about resilience, one might quote Kesey to illustrate the need for humor in tough times.
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You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you.
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But I remember one thing:_x000D_ _x000D_ it wasn't me that started acting deaf;_x000D_ _x000D_ it was people that first started acting like_x000D_ _x000D_ I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all
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The job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.
Ken KeseyRead
If this glorious birth to death hassle is the only hassle we are ever to have ..if our grand exhilarating fight of life is such a tragically short little scrap anyway,compared to the eons of rounds before and after-then why should one want to relinquish even a few precious seconds of it?
Ken KeseyRead
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