Do Not Succumb to Despair

In the 2011 movie Midnight in Paris, Owen Wilson plays a screenwriter and aspiring novelist who finds himself transported back in time during his vacation in that storied and historic city. There, he meets cultural icons from the Jazz Age, such as Gertrude Stein, played by Kathy Bates.

My favourite line from the movie comes from Bates as she’s talking to Wilson about the process of art and writing:

“We all fear death and question our place in the universe. The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”

I love this line and believe this to be everyone’s job, not just the artist’s.

Do not succumb to despair.

Find your antidote.