The sentiment that “life should not be taken too seriously” is a sort of dry, crusty sponge of a cliché—a statement that seems to have had every drop of nourishing value squeezed from it after ten trillion uses. And yet like so many lifeless platitudes, it contains a certain amount of wisdom—practical wisdom that is damn easy to forget in the day-to-day trenches and tangles of our lives. So, in the spirit of revitalizing a Saharan truism and reflecting upon the real importance of retaining levity in the face of frustration, I dug up this brief collection of (hopefully) poignant quotes on approaching life a bit more playfully.
Thoughts on the Wisdom of Levity
From Fyodor Dostoevsky: Joseph Campbell in the book Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion: Alan Watts’ ever-charming perspective: Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Breakfast of Champions: A sentiment of Charles Bukowski’s: ‘I won’t know myself until I find out if life is serious or not,’ said Trout. ‘It’s dangerous, I know, and it can hurt a lot. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s serious, too.” Ray Bradbury in Twice 22: The Golden Apples of the Sun and a Medicine for Melancholy: The illustrious Friedrich Nietzsche weighs in: From the immortal William Shakespeare: Finally, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, as quoted in Dr. Seuss: American Icon: Jordan Bates is the creator of Refine The Mind and an English teacher in Busan, South Korea. He earned a BA in English Literature with minors in Philosophy & Spanish at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Read the story of Refine The Mind and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. 9 Thinkers on Not Taking Existence too Seriously | Refine The Mind Featured photo credit: Kurt Vonnegut, da morto | Daniele Prati via flickr.com
