“Let us strive for the impossible. The great achievements throughout history have been the conquest of what seemed the impossible.” — Charlie Chaplin
LiveMint's quote of the day is by Charlie Chaplin, who the world often visualises as the "Little Tramp"—the oversized shoes, the bamboo cane, and the waddling gait that defined early cinema.
Charlie Chaplin’s life was a testament to his quote. He didn't just make movies; he invented a universal language of comedy that transcended borders and speech. He took the "impossible" task of making the whole world laugh at once and succeeded.
When you look at your life today, don't just look at the low-hanging fruit. Look at the heights. Look at the things that scare you. Because as history shows, the only difference between the impossible and the possible is the person who refuses to stop climbing.
Let us strive for the impossible. Not because it is easy, but because it is the only way to find out who we truly are.
The Anatomy of the "Impossible" When Chaplin spoke about the "impossible," he wasn't talking about magic. He was talking about defiance. He was talking about the sheer, stubborn refusal to accept the boundaries drawn by sceptics, critics, and even the laws of physics.
What exactly is "the impossible"? Usually, it is simply a label we stick onto things we haven’t figured out yet. It’s a placeholder for our collective lack of imagination.
Throughout history, the "impossible" has been a moving target:
The Four-Minute Mile: Before 1954, doctors and athletes genuinely believed the human heart would explode if a person ran a mile in under four minutes. Then Roger Bannister did it. Within a year, several others followed. The barrier wasn't physical; it was psychological.
Heavier-than-Air Flight: Lord Kelvin, a titan of science, famously declared in 1895 that "heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." Eight years later, two bicycle mechanics from Ohio proved him wrong in the dunes of Kitty Hawk.
Global Communication: If you told someone in the 18th century that they could see and speak to someone across the ocean in real-time via a glass brick in their pocket, they would have called it sorcery. Today, we call it a Tuesday.
History is essentially a graveyard of things people said could never be done.
How to apply it today Applying Chaplin’s philosophy without burning out or losing touch with reality requires a blend of visionary thinking and iterative execution.
Step 1: Identify Your "Impossible" What is the one thing you would do if you knew you couldn't fail? Not the "next logical step" in your career, but the dream that makes you feel a little bit embarrassed to say out loud. That is your target.
Step 2: Deconstruct the Physics Elon Musk often talks about "First Principles" thinking. Instead of looking at what has been done (analogy), look at the fundamental truths. Is your goal physically impossible, or just difficult and expensive? If it doesn’t violate the laws of thermodynamics, it’s just a logistical problem.
Step 3: Embrace the "Ugly" Phase The conquest of the impossible is never glamorous in the middle. Chaplin spent hundreds of hours retaking single scenes until they were perfect. The "great achievements" he refers to were built on a foundation of thousands of tiny, frustrating, and very "possible" failures.
Step 4: Ignore the Professional Sceptics Sceptics are just people who are protecting their own comfort zones. If they admit you can do the impossible, they have to admit that they could have done more, too. Their doubt isn't about your potential; it's about their own limitations.
Who is Charles Chaplin? Born in London in 1889 into crushing poverty, Charles Spencer Chaplin’s early years were marked by a struggle for survival that would break most. The separation of his parents and his mother’s subsequent mental health collapse forced him into the grim reality of Victorian workhouses.
Yet, it was within this crucible of starvation and despair that a legendary resilience was forged. Chaplin did more than just survive; he learned the profound art of transmutation—turning the leaden weight of his painful experiences into the gold of cinematic humour.
When were these words said? The philosophy of "striving for the impossible" was not merely artistic; it was deeply political. Chaplin first delivered these words in a stirring 1942 speech in Madison Square Park, advocating for a Second Front in World War II. He believed fervently in the power of collective human will to overcome the existential threat of fascism.
This conviction reached its zenith in The Great Dictator (1940). Risking his career to satirise Adolf Hitler, Chaplin closed the film with an impassioned six-minute speech—a plea for democracy, reason, and universal brotherhood that remains chillingly relevant today.
Charles Chaplin’s pursuit of artistic sovereignty In an era where the studio system held absolute power over artists, Chaplin sought what many deemed impossible: total creative sovereignty.
In 1919, he co-founded United Artists, a move that fundamentally disrupted the industry. This granted him the rare freedom to write, direct, produce, edit, star in, and even compose the music for his films.