The Doctor’s Wisdom

“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”

The Roar of Our Stars by Alice X. Zhang

I love Doctor Who. I’m just a nerd like that. I actually own a pair of high-top All Star Converse shoes which are custom designed to look like David Tennant’s maroon Converse and say “Allonsey” on the back. They are my favorite shoes.                                      … Anyways…

One of my favorite quotes is from the episode called Vincent and The Doctor.

(for non-Doctor Who watchers, The Doctor is a Time Lord which basically means he can travel through space and time.)

~ Spoiler alert!! ~

Episode overview: Amy and the Doctor travel to meet Vincent van Gogh and defeat an evil monster. In the meantime, Amy finds out that Vincent will die by his own hand. She and the Doctor try to help Vincent battle his depression, and for a little while he seems okay. After defeating the monster, they bring Vincent back to a modern museum and allow him to see the incredible impact that his work will make on the world of art. He is speechless and thanks them both when they bring him back to his own time.  Amy and the Doctor have hope that his life will change for the better after their encounter. They return to the museum, only to discover that there is only one addition to his artwork and he took his own life in 1890. Amy is distraught and the Doctor comforts her with these words:

“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”

This quote is beautiful for two reasons.

1. It affects how you view your own life. You are able to feel deep pain and also deep joy and know that both experiences are equally valid and important. It allows you to be living in pain and despair but still be able to find beauty in the movement of the stars, in a memory, or in a stranger’s kind word.  It allows you to life fully and in the present and realize that all of your experiences – the good and the bad – have made you who you are today, and that is painfully beautiful.

2. It also concerns to how you interact with others. Even if you know you can’t change someone’s life circumstances for the better, you can bring a little beauty into their life with a kind word or action.

That is what this quote means to me.

I like Doctor Who. Do you? What is your favorite quote?

(Disclaimer: the picture is not mine. It is by Alice X. Zhang.)