Smart or Silly? How to understand Forrest's word

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Forrest Gump's favorite word: "Life is a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get".

I have been confused for a while on whether the word is smart or silly.

Inside a box of chocolates are usually chocolates, which can be different in size or shape. That is, you usually get chocolates from it, not "never know what you're gonna get."
I remember Gump said that his mom told him the favorite word and it was not invented by himself. Gump was retarded, yes, but his mom was smart.
Well, smart guys sometimes say silly things.

Please post whether you think " "Life is a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get" sounds smart or silly.

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Type: Question • Score: 10 • Views: 5,215 • Replies: 41

View best answer, chosen by oristarA

@oristarA,

Hi Oristar, the saying is meant to be deep and I think your missing the nuance. Yes they are always chocolates, but there are hard centers and soft centers. You might get a liqueur soaked raisin or some caramel, something made with coconut or praline, maybe a hazelnut or almond. Turkish delight. You won't know until you bite.

2 Replies

@hingehead,

Unless you look at the inside of the box where it usually shows you what is inside the various shapes and wrapping colours.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Cheater.

2 Replies

Hi, OristarA,
I hope all is well with you.

First, you're talking about a favorite 'saying' not a 'word'.

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Here's why that's true.
Look at this box of chocolates:

https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWM_nxvfYcdTTtDdLNuUQQKPWMwLfQRQT2vPak5e8-1Prp5lRzPw

They all look delicious, BUT, you can't tell just by looking at what will be inside each of those chocolates. Suppose you like the sweet almond paste ones, can you tell which of those chocolates have the almond paste inside?
No.
You won't really know what kind of chocolate you are going to get until you bite into the piece. One that looks like a nice soft one, could be filled with crunchy nougat. (not my favorite).
The same with life in so many ways. As we go through our lives and times, we meet up with so many unexpected things, some of them good, some of them bad, some of them the result of choices we have made that turned out completely different than what we thought would happen.

Here's life.
Here's the choices that are before you.
Choose.
Try your best to pick the one you want, but you never know.......

~~~
I'm sure others have said similar thing to you on this thread. This is just my two cents. 2 Cents

And I said that because I've always wanted to use that emoticon and never had the opportunity.

Be well, stay well,

Joe( Cool

)Nation

2 Replies

@Ticomaya,

Really......looking at the sheet takes all the fun out of it. AND now we know who it is who is taking all the soft centers!!!
Joe(grrrrr rabbit)Nation

1 Reply

@Ticomaya,

Ticomaya wrote:

Cheater.

Person With Brain.

0 Replies

@Joe Nation,

Joe Nation wrote:

Really......looking at the sheet takes all the fun out of it. AND now we know who it is who is taking all the soft centers!!!
Joe(grrrrr rabbit)Nation

Not I, I assure you.

0 Replies

@hingehead,

hingehead wrote:

Hi Oristar, the saying is meant to be deep and I think your missing the nuance. Yes they are always chocolates, but there are hard centers and soft centers. You might get a liqueur soaked raisin or some caramel, something made with coconut or praline, maybe a hazelnut or almond. Turkish delight. You won't know until you bite.

Cool!
Thank you.

0 Replies

@Joe Nation,

Joe Nation wrote:

Hi, OristarA,
I hope all is well with you.

First, you're talking about a favorite 'saying' not a 'word'.

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Here's why that's true.
Look at this box of chocolates:

They all look delicious, BUT, you can't tell just by looking at what will be inside each of those chocolates. Suppose you like the sweet almond paste ones, can you tell which of those chocolates have the almond paste inside?
No.
You won't really know what kind of chocolate you are going to get until you bite into the piece. One that looks like a nice soft one, could be filled with crunchy nougat. (not my favorite).
The same with life in so many ways. As we go through our lives and times, we meet up with so many unexpected things, some of them good, some of them bad, some of them the result of choices we have made that turned out completely different than what we thought would happen.

Here's life.
Here's the choices that are before you.
Choose.
Try your best to pick the one you want, but you never know.......

~~~
I'm sure others have said similar thing to you on this thread. This is just my two cents.
And I said that because I've always wanted to use that emoticon and never had the opportunity.

Be well, stay well,

Joe( )Nation

Thank you Joe.

I think my thoughts have soared too far. Because I deemed that no matter what is inside a box of chocolates what you get will be always be edible. But life is far more complicated than that. Sometimes the so-called "chocolates" might be only stones that hurt your teeth. For example:

http://www.gss.org.cn/UploadFiles/ZX/2011/10/20111019111622.jpg

It is one of the limitations of the well-known saying.

Thank you all.
[img][/img]

0 Replies

Personally, I have never seen the 'wisdom' of that saying or anything else said or done by the Forrest Gump character, who, to tell the truth, gets on my tits. As for the film, a vile, irresponsible work whose massive success says some very frightening things about America.

2 Replies

@contrex,

I suspect anything from America gets on your tits.

2 Replies

@contrex,

You missed the whole love story theme, Contrex, it kills me every time I watch it, knowing Jenny is going to go off somewhere where she will not be loved.

Is it "Gone with the Wind"? No.

Is it a good story told well?

Joe(yup)Nation

PS: BTW Gary Sinise has made himself a second career with the Lt. Dan Band, the proceeds of their concerts, in part, goes to military families.

0 Replies

@Ticomaya,

Ticomaya wrote:

I suspect anything from America gets on your tits.

Absolutely not. FDR, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Barack Obama, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, The Sopranos, Flaming Lips, Six Feet Under, Dexter, True Blood, American Horror Story, an enormous amount of literature and popular music, the P-38 Lightning and the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, Johnny Depp... I could go on and on. I just don't like stupid Americans, just as I don't like stupid Germans or stupid Welsh people or stupid or vain people from anywhere.

2 Replies

@contrex,

how do you deal with the self-loathing part?

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Rockhead wrote:

how do you deal with the self-loathing part?

Dick.

0 Replies

@contrex,

Quote:

I just don't like stupid Americans, just as I don't like stupid Germans or stupid Welsh people or stupid or vain people from anywhere.

This from the English teacher who constantly errs in his advice on the English language. The same English teacher who has no fear of parading that stupidity all over the English threads.

I guess "Being There", with Peter Sellers, was also too deep for you.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

I guess "Being There", with Peter Sellers, was also too deep for you.

You do write a lot of bollocks.

1 Reply

@contrex,

As is usual, C, you missed the pertinent portions.

This from the English teacher who constantly errs in his advice on the English language. The same English teacher who has no fear of parading that stupidity all over the English threads.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

As is usual, C, you missed the pertinent portions.

I have missed nothing. Cease prating, there's a good chap.

1 Reply

Smart or Silly? How to understand Forrest's word

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