"What We Do In Life, Echoes In Eternity" - Gladiator
That's got to be my absolute favorite quote from one of my favorite movies. If you have never watched Gladiator before I strongly urge you to do so, not because it is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time, not because the action sequences are mind-blowing, but because the story is so very moving, and it is a story that really hits home..to me anyway. So go watch it!
I am not going to spoil the story of gladiator to much but to again quote the movie.
"This is the story of a general who became a man, who became a slave, who became a gladiator, who challenged an empire."
However getting back to the title quote, indeed it is such a profound statement its worth a second look and deeper examination. Personally when I try to draw meaning from such sources I use other quote whose meanings are clear in my head. I would at this point like to point out that this area of extracting meaning from such quotes is widely open to interpretation and your interpretation and thus meaning you extract will be different from mine. Totally cool if you disagree with me.
"Our Actions Are A Reflection Of Who We Are As People At That Point, Not Who We Are Striving To Become." - The Bossman
"Be The Change You Want To See In The World." - Mahatma Gandhi
"It Takes Years To Build A Good Name, Only Seconds To Shatter It." - Unknown
I think these three quotes provide a lot of direction when trying to decipher the title quote. First off, the bossman is simply saying the what you do with your actions shows what/who you are then. Not what you will become or who your trying to be. In other words your the master of your own destiny the past and present (to a degree) are beyond your ability to control. Control your future actions and let me them be a truer reflection.
The second quote is Gandhi saying, that let your actions speak for you and be pro-active towards setting a good example if your a role-model, or simply that a positive attitude is all that is needed to change the world.
The third quote is a reminder that, people are human beings and as human beings we have a very unfortunate tendency to only remember the wrongs people commit against us, or the mistake they make. Out of ten choices you can make 9 good ones and one bad one and people will remember you for that one bad choice rather then the nine good ones.
So to tie it all together. People will remember you - long after your not around - for your actions, attitudes and behaviors. However due to people unfortunate tendency to remember the bad over the good, you want to make sure there is no bad for people to remember you by, just good.
"What We Do In Life, Echoes In Eternity."
Stay Safe, Awesome and Chilled.
Dangerous Dave.
No comments:
Post a Comment