The Power of Words | Tom Hanks: A Short Sentence for an Awkward Journey Home

Imagine heading home after dinner with friends. You remember one thing you said. Perhaps you talked too much; perhaps that joke was unnecessary. There were good moments, too, but the few awkward seconds keep replaying in your mind.

Today’s quotation

This too shall pass.

Tom Hanks — from his remarks in the Actor Roundtable

What he wished his younger self had known

During The Hollywood Reporter’s Actor Roundtable, the participants were asked what advice they would give their younger selves. Tom Hanks said he wished he had known today’s phrase, then repeated the short sentence while speaking about feeling bad or angry.

This is a remark attributed to Hanks in the published discussion, not dialogue spoken by one of his film characters. It does not mean that he originated the expression.

The published exchange goes on to include another actor’s comment about stretching and Hanks’s own mention of flossing. Beside the large questions of a life sit the practical matters of looking after a back or a set of teeth. There is something gently disarming about that company.

A few awkward seconds, and the rest of the night

What follows is this article’s reflection.

One remark can seem unusually large on the way home. Even your reflection in the train window appears to have something to say. Perhaps it is simply the face of someone who is tired.

We should not turn today’s phrase into a promise that every problem will resolve without action. If you hurt someone, an apology may be needed. But responding to what happened is different from deciding that the embarrassment will always feel exactly this intense.

At home, you can take off your shoes and have a glass of water. There are still other small things left in the evening. A few clumsy seconds do not have to provide the whole account of the dinner—or of you.

No final verdict on the train

Hanks’s short sentence does not demand instant cheerfulness. At least, that is how this article chooses to receive it.

Tonight may still feel awkward. The train can reach the next station all the same. A sweeping verdict about yourself can wait a little longer.

Source and translation note

The Hollywood Reporter, “Anger Is Very Easy — The Other Stuff Feels Difficult”: Tom Hanks, Shia LaBeouf and the Actor Roundtable. See the closing exchange about advice to their younger selves.

The quotation reproduces one sentence from Hanks’s answer in the published English discussion, which was edited for length and clarity. This article does not attribute authorship of the expression to Hanks. The Japanese translation in the companion article is our own. The opening scene and everyday reflections are this article’s interpretation.