“The most that can be said for reality is that it tends to encourage a certain kind of laziness.”
What this quote means
John Ashbery, with his characteristic irony, suggests that reality, by its weight and obviousness, encourages passivity. Faced with what is, we often endure rather than act. This phrase critiques our tendency to accept things as they are, out of intellectual laziness. It urges us to ask: is reality a fact or a construct? Can we transform it through our will?
How to apply it daily
Choose an aspect of your life you take for granted and question it. Ask yourself: is it truly immutable? Then take a small action to alter it.
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