Comments on: triumph and disaster

By: Prasanna

Prasanna — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:01:54 +0000

hey Hugh! you suddenly seem to make sense.. haha.. Great post by the way.. as ever

By: Peter Ralph

Peter Ralph — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 06:05:06 +0000

Hugh — the folks at Image Entertainment just announced they are re-releasing the movie “If” next month.
Do you think they read your blog?
if you would rather stay with Kipling I can recommend “The Man who would be King” — Sean Connery & Michael Caine are both great

By: clementine

clementine — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 05:01:56 +0000

well, i can tell from the cartoons that you still sort of do have messy handwriting. I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘sloppy’ though, so I guess some good came out of it all.
we have ‘IF’ posted on the fridge…it got me through several rough spots…had to memorize it too, but it was for talking out of turn, not handwriting.
interesting that what was given as a punishment seems to be so well thought of by so many.

By: clementine

clementine — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 04:58:48 +0000

I can’t help but wonder if you still have messy handwriting.….

By: Nic Darling

Nic Darling — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:13:15 +0000

Excellent post. I particularly like the segment about the transience of victory as symbolized by the laurel wreaths. With that in mind, resting on ones laurels seems even more foolish.
This also reminds me of a favorite quote from Samuel Beckett — “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.“
Thinking of your victories as “better failures” takes a little of the sting out of defeat and a little of the excess air out of your successes.

By: Brian Sexton

Brian Sexton — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:42:08 +0000

That was a great post, Hugh—very thought provoking.
Were I distributing points, I would give some to you for invoking your Latin studies and quoting Hobbes. Nicely done, sir. Nicely done.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:28:07 +0000

I have been reading your blog enthusiastically for some time now and must confess a dwindling of that earlier enthusiasm. Today’s blog, however, long awaited it seems, was one of your best. Okay, I am a Kipling fan who tears up while reading Gunga Din to his kids. Or maybe it is just the old man in me recognizing your path as somewhat familiar. Cheers.

By: britta k

britta k — Wed, 30 May 2007 10:28:42 +0000

thanks, Hugh! this post gave me two fun moments:
a) “triumph:disaster” and the much more general “everything:nothing” dialogue well together. as I’ve been dwelling on the tensions between the latter pair for a week or so, I’m now considering this added spin. intriguing.
b) blissfully (and in a non sequitur sort of way) reminded me of a beloved college history teacher from France, who spoke incessantly about “Julius Caesar’s laurel wraith.“
fabulous.
(p.s. — as a comment virgin, just want to tell you how much color your blog adds to my world. I share your cartoons at least several times a week, because… how could I not? cheers!)

By: Mickey

Mickey — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:24:34 +0000

G’Day Hugh and the rest of the GapingVOID community. I browse the sight every now and again since I first stumbled across the “creativity” essay written by yourself Hugh — awsomely inspiring and honest.
It is interesting to read about the fleeting nature of success and victory. And, if this fleeting nature is an organic funciton as we are suggesting here, then it can equally be applied to emotions, failures, and any other aspect of human life; Never can you always be content, always be happy, always be right, always be wrong, always be in love.
This is very comforting to me because some days I hate my wife, some days i hate my life, sometimes i question my dicisions, my directions, my dreams…to know that questioning them is human is comforting and makes me feel free to question some more!
Thanks group

By: latinbombshell

latinbombshell — Wed, 30 May 2007 04:45:06 +0000

There is no such thing as failure. It’s simply called living.

By: Darcy Moen

Darcy Moen — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:53:22 +0000

To quote another brilliant individual.
’Where ever you go, there you are’ — Steven Wright

By: RKR

RKR — Wed, 30 May 2007 01:07:17 +0000

When I dream of my success, I picture “me” featured in a magazine article “barefoot” in my home. This dream will be crushed when I read the article and notice that the magazine photoshopped in someone else’s feet.
When you are told you may have only 5 years to live, the first thoughts are not about your failures or successes. You don’t care about your bank account…the first thing you think of, “is I want more time”. You just want to live, even if you never make it on the Fortune 500 list.
—PS That was 7 years ago. The second opinion was better than the first doctor’s. I am fine, healthy and just as ornery as ever, but that moment is forever embedded in my mind. I feel like I have been given a second chance at life and I have since had several fabulous failures!
—I hesitate to send this comment, because it seems to smell like Chicken Soup. Ah, what the hell!
Great post as always, Hugh!

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:12:42 +0000

Been reading gapingvoid for just over a year & have never taken the time to comment. Just a simple 'thanks' for reminding me about "If" & for making me think with the 'cartoon' "Please". That one always makes me cry... Triumph & Disaster, indeed.

By: Michael Stevens

Michael Stevens — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:24:41 +0000

One I think about is of the victorious Roman Emperor after returning from war, would take a chariot ride through the Colosseum to a roaring crowd. While he did this on his chariot directly behind him would be a young man who the entire ride would whisper in his ear, “You are just a man.“
We often need those in victory and failure, the reminder “You are just a man.”

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:09:51 +0000

Thanks for the link Hugh, great poem and well worth remembering.