Larger than Life

[The Wizard]

You define the victory conditions for your life, and you have the right to change them at will.

Exactly.

[Eater of Clowns]

You define the victory conditions for your life, and you have the right to change them at will.

Exactly.

Well then no wonder why there aren't any larger than life figures anymore.  Everyone's too busy fucking off and then calling themselves personal winners.

[Don Coyote]

You define the victory conditions for your life, and you have the right to change them at will.

Exactly.

Well then no wonder why there aren't any larger than life figures anymore.  Everyone's too busy fucking off and then calling themselves personal winners.

Sadly that's true.

[Cainad (dec.)]

I do have a slight bone to pick with a lot of the so-called "great men" of history. Not all, but a fair few.

Napoleon. Andrew Jackson. Peter the Great. Alexander the Great.

It seems that humanity loves no one quite as much as it loves its butchers.

</micro-rant>

Not that I completely disagree with the OP or its sentiment. I just think that sometimes the veneration of historical figures can be misplaced.

[The Wizard]

Well then no wonder why there aren't any larger than life figures anymore.  Everyone's too busy fucking off and then calling themselves personal winners.

Yeah, you're right. I also think a big part of it is that people have been raised to think they can't manage it, or its not worth the effort.

I do have a slight bone to pick with a lot of the so-called "great men" of history. Not all, but a fair few.

Napoleon. Andrew Jackson. Peter the Great. Alexander the Great.

It seems that humanity loves no one quite as much as it loves its butchers.

</micro-rant>

Not that I completely disagree with the OP or its sentiment. I just think that sometimes the veneration of historical figures can be misplaced.

True enough. A fair number of them were right assholes, but I've got to respect most of them for at least trying to do something.

[Adios]

I do have a slight bone to pick with a lot of the so-called "great men" of history. Not all, but a fair few.

Napoleon. Andrew Jackson. Peter the Great. Alexander the Great.

It seems that humanity loves no one quite as much as it loves its butchers.

</micro-rant>

Not that I completely disagree with the OP or its sentiment. I just think that sometimes the veneration of historical figures can be misplaced.

Watch the movie Mrs. Henderson Presents. She was a fucking heroine.

[The Wizard]

Watch the movie Mrs. Henderson Presents. She was a fucking heroine.

Never seen it. To Netflix, away!

[Adios]

Watch the movie Mrs. Henderson Presents. She was a fucking heroine.

Never seen it. To Netflix, away!

Laura Henderson (1864 – 29 November 1944) rose to prominence in the 1930s when, as a wealthy and eccentric widow, she founded the Windmill Theatre in London's Great Windmill Street in partnership with Vivian van Damm; they went on to turn it into a British institution, famed for its pioneering tableaux vivants of motionless female nudity and for having "never closed" during the Blitz.

[The Wizard]

Laura Henderson (1864 – 29 November 1944) rose to prominence in the 1930s when, as a wealthy and eccentric widow, she founded the Windmill Theatre in London's Great Windmill Street in partnership with Vivian van Damm; they went on to turn it into a British institution, famed for its pioneering tableaux vivants of motionless female nudity and for having "never closed" during the Blitz.

THis woman counts. Kick ass.

[Jenne]

I always saw my own father as "larger than life."  The type of guy that walked into a room and owned it, lock, stock and barrel.  Force of personality and all that.  And then he was suddenly whisked away in handcuffs and held out of his own life for ~7 years.

I think Hawk has a point when he says that great gain inevitably comes at great cost.  Since most great gain comes with a terrible gamble, it's the ones that lose that either become infamous for losses (and not their gambles), or the ones that have won their gamble but their losses are not as prominent as said gains.

I see greatness like I see any other extreme--it should be handled with extreme care and is not for the "faint of butt" as they say.  If you devour life, prepare to be devoured yourself. 

..."there's always a bigger fish"...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think that the quality of "larger than life" applies not so much to winners, but to the people who continue to steamroller through life and take it to the wall even when they aren't "winning".

[The Wizard]

I think that the quality of "larger than life" applies not so much to winners, but to the people who continue to steamroller through life and take it to the wall even when they aren't "winning".

From my point of view, that is winning.

Also, just as an aside. I appreciate everyone who replied to this thread. But I get the impression that not everyone reading the OP or the thread is replying, which is cool, I don't post to every thread I read. But I'm hoping to become a professional writer, so its really important to me that I get everyone and anyone's thoughts on my work. So even if you don't think you have much to add, please reply anyway.

Dr. James Semaj

[The Good Reverend Roger]

IMO, larger than life means that you are greater than the events that surround you.

It is within the abilities of almost anyone to achieve this.  Many do, and you never hear about them...But most don't.  Most sort of coast along from the cradle to the grave, marking time.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You define the victory conditions for your life, and you have the right to change them at will.

Exactly.

Well then no wonder why there aren't any larger than life figures anymore.  Everyone's too busy fucking off and then calling themselves personal winners.

And there's nothing wrong with that, if they're actually DOING it, though most don't.

Remove accomplishment, replace with "self-esteem". 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And no man, this isnt to shit on your thread, i consider it deconstruction, this is the last time i heard the phrase, and i wonder if it somehow tangentionally it triggered something in you to write this Op.

This meme seed exists from 9 years ago, and to be "larger than life" to the general population is:

"Every time we're down
You can make it right"

So basically to be "larger than life" is to act as a codependant/fixer??

Shouldnt being "larger than life" be something else?

No, this was triggered by a conversation with a friend earlier today. I was telling him about Jack Churchill, and my friend refused to believe that the guy was real.

And if you read the rant, you'd see that I meant Larger than Life as a refusal to be limited by what most people think of as "possible" or "realistic".

Jack Churchill had such huge balls, he used them to shield his men from shrapnel.