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There are times in our lives when we have situations that cause some consternation in our hearts, minds, or souls, and we look for ways to deal with that feeling. We often look for paths to take to get rid of those feelings, or help someone deal with them if they're having issues with them too.
Sometimes we turn to words of philosophers like Aristotle, Confucius, Lao-Tzu, etc., or authors like Machiavelli or Voltaire, or sometimes we find words of inspiration in more simplistic ways, maybe through poetry, oral presentations, military strategists, song lyrics, television scripts, even the silver screen, all those through quotes, speeches, song, or soliloquies from any and/or all genres.
I'm a person who often needs inspiration to accomplish tasks, finish projects, deal with worrisome situations, parent, teach, coach, or solve problems. In those situations, I try to look to any of the above-mentioned avenues to deal with my role. Today, the VFTB offers thirteen sets of words of wisdom through quotes, speeches, soliloquies from the silver screen, be they from dramas, historic films, comedies, tragedies, fiction or non-fiction, some even animated, that might be helpful in all of our lives, in small or large ways.
Maybe you've seen the films, maybe not, but these are movies that have played, (some multiple times), on big theater screens, and on home television screens, and have been helpful in many roles in which I've participated. Some are funny, some deep, some sad, some tragic, but all having some message to stow away in case you find them useful, as I often have. Maybe they could help you too.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. You playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (Timo Cruz to Coach Carter in the movie Coach Carter - from Marianne Williamson's 1992 Book, A Return to Love)
-- John Keating’s (Robin Williams Character in Dead Poets Society) “Carpe Diem” is the ultimate call to seize the day and make your life extraordinary. “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion.”
-- “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows… It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! … But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain’t gonna have a life." (Rocky to Son in Rocky Balboa 2006)
-- "I guess it just comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying." (Andy Dufresne to Red in The Shawshank Redemption)
-- "Anybody know what this place is? This is Gettysburg. This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we’re still fighting amongst ourselves today. This green field right here was painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, man. ‘I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family.’ You listen and take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed just like they were.
-- I don’t care if you don’t like each other, but you will respect each other. I don’t know, maybe we’ll learn to play this game like men." (Coach Herman Boone to the T. C. Williams High School Football Team in Remember the Titans)
-- "I used to believe, I still do, that if you give something your all it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, as long as you’ve risked everything, put everything out there. And I’ve done that. I did it my entire life. I did it with the game. But I never did it with you, I never gave you that. And I’m sorry." (Billy Chapel to Jane Aubrey in For Love of the Game.)
-- “At some point, everything’s gonna go south on you… everything’s going to go south and you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem… and you solve the next one… and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home.” (Astronaut Mark Watney in The Martian)
-- "Collateral Beauty is not something that can easily be defined. The definition changes from person to person. As for me, it is the beauty that lies in the darkest times which gives hope and even though it is something sorrowful it gives that feeling of comfort somehow." (Woman talking to Madeleine Inlet in the movie Collateral Beauty.)
-- “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you can miss it.” (Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)
-- "Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices. It goes by fast. When you’re a teenager, you think you can do anything and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Thirties you raise your family, you make a little money, and you think to yourself, “What happened to my twenties” Forties, you grow a little pot belly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud, one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Fifties, you have a minor surgery-you’ll call it a procedure, but it’s a surgery. Sixties, you’ll have a major surgery, the music is still loud, but it doesn’t matter because you can’t hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale. You start eating dinner at 2:00 in the afternoon, you have lunch around 10:00, breakfast the night before, spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate soft yogurt and muttering, -- -- “How come the kids don’t call?” The eighties, you’ll have a major stroke, and you end up babbling with some Jamaican nurse who your wife can’t stand, but who you call mama. Any questions?" (Mitch Robbins talking to his son's class in City Slickers)
-- "Remember who you are." (Mufasa to Simba in The Lion King)
-- "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view." (Atticus Finch to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.)
-- “Brian Piccolo died of cancer at the age of twenty-six. He left a wife and three daughters. He also left a great many loving friends who miss him and think of him often. But when they think of him, it’s not how he died that they remember, but rather how he lived. How he did live!” (Jack Warden's narration ending the movie Brian's Song."
Sometimes life's hard. Sometimes we need guidance, wisdom, definitely patience, and obviously something meaningful to use in solving our dilemmas. It's no shame to borrow (use?) the words of philosophers, authors, poets, historians, public figures, teachers, lyricists, screen writers, even fortune cookies if they might be able to help us. Again, maybe some of these can be a help to all of us. (And if you haven't seen the movies, check them out too!)