1. “There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
Hemingway was a war vet, he drove an ambulance in WWI. So if anyone can write about the hunting of man, and know what’s talking about from first hand experience, it’s this guy. No one captured the life of a soldier or a vet quite the way Hemingway did.
2. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.”
Only when we are knocked down or defeated, do we learn what it means to be resilient. Sure the world breaks everyone, but it’s during those times that we learn how to truly survive, and face our demons head on. Tough times, when faced with strength, only leave us as better, more capable people.
3. “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
This line really hits you. We all enter and exit the world identically, but their are infinite possibilities of what can happen in between birth and death. And it’s our job to make the most of it. To distinguish ourselves from our peers by doing something remarkable, and following our deepest passions.
4. “I drink to make other people more interesting.”
While this behavior is a slippery slope to a dangerous habit, there’s truth to it. After a few drinks, everyone becomes a lot more appealing and easier to stand. As the night goes on and more alcohol is consumed, it suddenly begins to feel like everyone in the world is your friend. And it’s a great feeling – until the hangover hits like a ton of bricks come morning.
5. “When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead.”
This is most certainly a quote to live by. It’s important to ask yourself when you’ve been at a job for a long time, or in a relationship, or just in general, “Am I having fun?” And if the answer is no, change things. When something you once loved becomes tedious work, and stops being enjoyable, then you know it’s time to bow out, and find out the next thing that will make you happy.
6. “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
Everyone talks a big game when they’re drunk – because alcohol gives you a feeling of invincibility, inhibitions are lowered. This advice is so spot on – imagine if we had to actually carry out all the things we swore we’d do as drunken idiots. Suddenly we’d stop being such drunken idiots.
7. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
Only Hemingway could make writing sound so incredibly hardcore. But this quote makes perfect sense when you read his work. You are transported to his pain, and feel what he felt. It takes an incredible writer to be able to communicate all of that to his audience.
8. “To hell with them. Nothing hurts if you don’t let it.”
Only you can determine what affects you. Don’t give anyone the satisfaction of being able to control your emotions. Keep your head held high, ignore the bullshit, the let positive thoughts rush in. No one has the power to affect how you feel, except yourself.
9. “Death is like an old whore in a bar–I’ll buy her a drink but I won’t go upstairs with her.”
To flirt with death is to live dangerously. Take chances, gambles, and risks. Odds are if you’re not living a little bit dangerously, you’re not having very much fun.
10. “Develop a built-in bullshit detector.”
The world is full of people trying to take your money, take your girlfriend, and take advantage. Be one step ahead. Learn to read the signs of a professional bullshitter, and you’ll be a lot better off.
11. “Never sit a table when you can stand at the bar.”
Solid advice. Things happen when you’re at the bar. You can chat up the bartender, lock eyes with strangers, bump into people, get in a fight. It’s a fully alive setting. Sit at a table, and you block yourself of from that world, it discourages people from approaching you. So dive in head first, and stand where the action happens, and order a damn whiskey, neat.
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