Quote by Shel Silverstein, Zebra Question

I asked the zebra,Are you black with white strips?Or white with black strips?And the zebra asked me,Are you good with bad habits?Or are you bad with good habits?Are you noisy with quiet times?Or are you quiet with noisy times?Are you happy with sad days?Or are you sad with happy days?Are you neat with some sloppy ways?Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?And on and on and on and onAnd on and on he went.I'll never ask a zebraAbout stripesAgain.

I asked the zebra,Are you black with white strips?Or white w

Summary

This quote highlights the complexity of human nature and the unpredictability of categorizing individuals based on superficial characteristics. The speaker uses the zebra as a metaphor to question the concept of identity and challenges the assumption that people can be easily defined as one thing or another. The repeated questioning of opposites reflects the idea that individuals can possess conflicting qualities, making it impossible to label them definitively. Ultimately, the quote suggests that attempting to simplify or pigeonhole someone based on superficial traits is fruitless and fails to capture the full complexity of their being.

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Questions

By Shel Silverstein, Zebra Question

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