“And how life on your own terms might end in a blaze, not a sunset.”
— Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
That line — “how life on your own terms might end in a blaze, not a sunset” — speaks to a deeper truth at the heart of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Here’s a breakdown of what it means:
🔹 “Life on your own terms”
This refers to choosing freedom over conformity, even when it’s risky. Butch and Sundance live outside the law, not because they’re evil, but because they refuse to be boxed in by society’s rules. They’re chasing a life that feels real — unpredictable, open, dangerous — but theirs.
🔹 “Might end in a blaze”
A blaze represents something dramatic, violent, or heroic — like the film’s final shootout. It’s not a quiet death, not a fade-out. It’s going out with intensity, in action, without surrender. This symbolizes the cost of living freely: sometimes, it burns out fast.
🔹 “Not a sunset”
A sunset suggests peace, retirement, rest — a long life winding down gently. It’s the “safe” ending, the kind we’re told to aim for. But Butch and Sundance are too wild, too untamed, to ride off into one. Their story isn’t about safety — it’s about freedom, even if it comes at the end of a barrel.
🔹 The Meaning in Context
The film’s final freeze-frame — as they run into a hopeless gunfight — perfectly captures this idea. They chose a life of adventure and risk, and they stayed true to it until the very end. There’s no regret in that. Just the price of being free.
“Perhaps the most critical piece of evidence for the theory of hypocrisy as false signaling is that people disliked hypocrites more than so-called ‘honest hypocrites.’ In a fourth online study, the researchers tested perceptions of ‘honest hypocrites,’ who — like traditional hypocrites — condemn behaviors that they engage in, but who also admit that they sometimes commit those behaviors. ‘The extent to which people forgive honest hypocrites was striking to us,’ says Jordan. ‘These honest hypocrites are seen as no worse than people who commit the same transgressions but keep their mouths shut and refrain from judging others for doing the same — suggesting that the entirety of our dislike for hypocrites can be attributed to the fact that they falsely signal their virtue.’”
“People, buying my stuff, can take it wherever they go and can rebuild it if they choose. If they keep it in their heads, that’s fine too. They don’t have to buy it to have it – they can just have it by knowing it.”
Lawrence Weiner PUSH AS IF & LEFT AS IS 2012 language and the materials referred to. Dimensions variable.
“If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
