I know it’s an unlikely place to find motivation for work – but, hey. Whatever works, right?
Although he played a homeless person for the most of his career, Charlie Chaplin was, in fact, an insanely successful man. He was a person who knew how to make us laugh without using a single line of dialog in his films.
Charlie almost never talked in his films, and when he did – we listened. I’m still able to recite the whole speech from The Great Dictator, even though I’ve seen it last time six years ago.
How come? – Well, because it was legendary. Because it wasn’t just some nonsense, because it was clever and full of great lessons. Even though I’m from a different time where films are technically a lot more advanced in all sorts of different aspects, I can still appreciate Mr. Chaplin’s work. Apart from great timing and acting, I think the situations that he explored in his films are evergreen. They apply almost anywhere you want them to apply.
In case you didn’t know, Mr. Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films. Yes, he was that talented. Apart from that, Charlie was also a perfectionist. His financial independence gave him the freedom to spend years on the development and production of his pictures, thus making it possible for him to create what he truly feels passionate about. Not many of us have that luxury.
His films are characterized by slapstick comedy, combined with pathos, typified in the Tramp’s struggles against adversity. Every single one of his films is filled with all sorts of different social and political themes, as well as autobiographical elements. I think that’s why his work ages like fine wine.
His comedies had a lot more in them than just a series of gags. He added emotion, heart to his pictures, developed characters and brought subtlety to them, as well.
He also had a great understanding of what was funny and what kind of behavior truly inspires people. What makes them relate to a certain character. What kind of gesture humize a certain concept. He knew how to dress, how to act, how to walk, and how to react to induce laughter, and the fact that he became such a talented filmmaker made his comedy shine even more. He was able to think beyond simple chases and add in other scenarios and settings that could make for hilarious situations.
Charlie Chaplin is probably the most well-known actor of the early 20th century. He was well recognized for his work. Mr. Chaplin was the first actor to appear on the TIME Magazine’s cover, he won an Oscar and, believe it or not, a third place in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like challenge.
Insane, right?
He is among those few performers from the silent era whom we’re still able to point out without much hassle. Everyone knows at least one of his films, and everyone, and this is fact, has at least once in their lifetime, almost choked from laughter while watching him portray The Little tramp in one of his many adventures.
The bowler hat, the baggy pants, the bamboo cane, the mustache and those over sized shoes – the image of The Little tramp is nothing short of iconic.
“A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.He will have you believe that he’s a scientist, a musician, a duke, a polo player – however, he’s not above robbing a baby of its candy. And of course, if the occasion warrants it, he would kick a lady in the rear, but only in extreme anger.“ – these are the very words Mr. Chaplin used to describe his timeless character.
The world not only responded to the wondrous humor of the Little tramp, but also to everything the man behind him represented.
Although some of his decisions were controversial, this man’s actions inspired generations and generations of people to pursue their passions, both in the movie business and away from it.
For years now, I’ve been quoting this artist in almost every single one of my pitches and presentations. I got to say, the thing I’ve noticed, every time people see his face and read one of his thoughts – they smile, and the whole situations of a pitch or presentation get a whole new feel to it. Apart from them, I’ve also been using some of his statements to jump start my productivity, and help me find new strength and energy to overcome some of my failures and follow up on my dreams.
So, without further to do, here some of the best Charlie Chaplin quotes that I come back whenever I’m in need of a little push at work:
“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down”
Exactly. In order to reach your dreams, you need to think of them as achievable. If every single obstacle and failure on your way to success gets you down and makes you doubt yourself and your vision – well, you’ll probably never live long enough to see it become reality.
“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles”
This is so true. Just a few years ago, I was in a such a rut. I had nothing good going on for me. Everything I tried to do, backfired on me. Sometimes by my own hand, sometimes thanks to terrible circumstances and bad timing. Although I kept trying, the world just wasn’t ready to cut me some slack.
Naturally, being quite young and inexperienced in the business world, I took this pretty hard and personal. I thought that it was all over for me. I thought that I was never gonna have anything good in my life and that it would be quite wise for me just to abandon all hope and give up on my goals and dreams.
Boy, how dumb was I? Looking back on that time now, I wish I could slap some sense to a younger me. Before I could say “I quit”, it all changed for me. I have everything I ever wanted in life. All I had to do to make my dreams come true was to believe in myself and work hard for what I really want. No one can deny your success if you continue working hard to achieve your goals.
“We think too much and feel too little”
In almost every business, there about 80% companies who forget that their customers are actually real people. Not numbers, not leads, not conversions, but a real living and breathing human being. In order to better understand their intent, we must first figure out who they are and what they’re feeling.
If we can anticipate their behavior and reach out to them in a way that will trigger their emotions and help them feel good about our brand and services – then, and only then can we start thinking about them as our loyal customers a.k.a. brand ambassadors.
“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”
The thing that makes smiling so important today, especially in business, is its power to help us accept all sorts of messages in a more positive manner. Of course, this all depends on the context where a smile manifests itself. There are certainly a lot of situations where smiling seems rude or even insulting.
But, when used in a proper setting a smile can turn an entire situation upside-down. It can show support, acceptance, or even gratitude. The thing about smiles is – they are contagious. Feeling good is infectious, and so is feeling crummy. With this in mind, ask yourself what kind of emotions do you want to trigger in the world? Good ones or bad ones?
“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself”
Failure is all about perception. When the outcome of a certain situation isn’t in sync with our expectations, we tend to classify it as a failure.
It’s a thing that most people are scared of. The fear of failing is probably the no.1 reason why most people never do anything significant with their lives. It’s a thing that blocks their creativity and makes them unsure about their ideas, even though they still think they’re good.
If one takes it as the outcome, one remains conscious of the input and the process that decide the outcome. If one is more keen on success or failure it is only being blind to the cause.
Awareness of the cause that got you where you currently are, allows you to work on improving your current situation for the better. Once you have fully recognized “failure” as nothing more than a metric, you can work on it so the outcome becomes more positive the next time you try to achieve success within the same field.
Both success and failure stop us from doing it better the next time as we are engulfed by either complacency or depression.
Failure is good only when it remains a part of a continuous improvement process and is not an end in itself. Make failure anonymous and you’ll start to think of it as a great teacher. Be ready to change from within and use failure as your shepherd to success.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. I hope you had as much fun reading it, as I did writing it.
That’s it for now,
See you soon again,
Goran @ AltusHost B.V.
The author is highly qualified and writes blog posts weekly.
