The "what do you mean by that?" thread

[Norbert]

Okay, let's play a game :) I'm going to write down a sentence, and it will be up to you to figure out what it means. Then, when somebody figures it out, they (or someone else) could post a new sentence, and the whole process can begin again. It's kind of like trying to interpret song lyrics.

Example 1: "we are all made of stars"

Meaning: all of the 92 naturally occurring elements (the stuff that makes up you and me) formed inside exploding stars (supernovae) at the beginning of time.

Example 2: "we are but the wind"

Meaning: we are impermanent, we are merely a force of nature (like the wind)

Okay, so let's start. I'll start us off with this one:

"In order to succeed in life, you must be a good chemist"

[Eldritch]

Something with the idea of "personal chemistries", i.e. in order to succeed in life, you must surround yourself with people you get along with?

[alexandra]

"In order to succeed in life, you must be a good chemist"

you must be able to balance all the areas of your life to form the right equation; much like a chemist and a recipe.

[Norbert]

you must be able to balance all the areas of your life to form the right equation; much like a chemist and a recipe.

That's a very good interpretation, but it's not what I had in mind.


Something with the idea of "personal chemistries", i.e. in order to succeed in life, you must surround yourself with people you get along with?

You are very close!

[Eldritch]

You are very close!

Um, you must bring together people whose abilities compliment each other?

[The Journeyman]

Work with what you have and make the best of it, ie, be resourceful.

[Norbert]

I was in a particularly pessimistic mood when I made up that sentence... It's based on the notion that everything we are - the human soul is nothing but a series of chemical reactions in the brain... that it's all meaningless.

To be successful, you must be a good chemist.

A chemist is somebody who works with chemicals for a living, a chemist usually inspires chemical reactions while working in a laboratory. People inspire chemical reactions all the time in the brains of those they interact with. If you are looking to make friends, and be successful in life, you need to know how to inspire the "right kind of chemical reaction" in the brains of the people you come into contact with.

---

Now on a lighter note, who can guess the meaning of this one:

ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power