“Let us strive for the impossible. The great achievements of history have been the conquest of the seemingly impossible.” —Charlie Chaplin
LiveMint’s quote of the day is from Charlie Chaplin, who the world often thinks of as “the little bum”—the oversized boots, bamboo cane, and wobbly walk 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 on 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 one who refuses to stop climbing.
Let’s strive for the impossible. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s the only way to find out who we really are.
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Anatomy of the “Impossible”
When Chaplin talked about the “impossible,” he wasn’t talking about magic. He spoke of defiance. He spoke of a sheer, stubborn refusal to accept the boundaries set by skeptics, critics, and even the laws of physics.
What exactly is “impossible”? Usually it’s just a sticker we put on things we haven’t figured out yet. It’s a placeholder for our collective lack of imagination.
Throughout history, “impossible” has been a moving target:
The Four-Minute Mile: Before 1954, doctors and athletes actually believed that a person’s heart would explode if a person ran a mile in less than four minutes. Then Roger Bannister did. Several more followed during the year. The barrier was not 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 Kitty Hawk Dunes.
Global Communication: If you told someone in the 18th century that they could see and talk to someone across the ocean in real time via a glass brick in their pocket, they would call it witchcraft. Today we call it Tuesday.
History is basically a graveyard of things people said could never be done.
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How to apply it today
Applying Chaplin’s philosophy without burning out or losing touch with reality requires a mixture of visionary thinking and iterative execution.
Step 1: Identify Your “Impossibles”
What is the one thing you would do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Not the “next logical step” in your career, but a dream that makes you feel a little embarrassed to say it out loud. That’s your goal.
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 underlying 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: Accept the “ugly” phase
Conquering the impossible is never charming in the middle. Chaplin spent hundreds of hours reshooting individual scenes until they were perfect. The “big successes” they talk about were built on thousands of tiny, frustrating, and very “possible” failures.
Step 4: Ignore the professional skeptics
Skeptics are just people who protect their own comfort zones. If they accept that you can do the impossible, they must also admit that they could have done more. Their doubts are not about your potential; it is their own limitation.
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Who is Charles Chaplin?
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in 1889 in London into crushing poverty and his early years were marked by a struggle for survival that broke most. The separation of his parents and the subsequent psychological collapse of his mother forced him to enter the grim reality of the Victorian workhouses.
Yet it was in this crucible of starvation and despair that legendary resilience was forged. Chaplin did more than survive; he learned the profound art of transmutation—turning the leaden weight of his painful experiences into the gold of cinematic humor.
When were these words spoken?
The philosophy of “pursuing the impossible” was not merely artistic; it was deeply political. Chaplin first uttered these words in a rousing speech in 1942 in Madison Square Park, advocating 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 belief reached its zenith in The Great Dictator (1940). Chaplin risked his career to satirize Adolf Hitler, closing the film with an impassioned six-minute speech – a plea for democracy, reason and universal brotherhood that is still chillingly relevant today.
Charles Chaplin’s quest for artistic sovereignty
At a time when the studio system held absolute power over artists, Chaplin sought what many thought was impossible: complete creative sovereignty.
In 1919, he co-founded United Artists, a move that fundamentally disrupted the industry. This gave him rare freedom to write, direct, produce, edit, act and even compose music for his films.
A true auteur, he produced timeless masterpieces including The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936). Each work has pushed the boundaries of visual storytelling, proving that film can be both popular entertainment and high art.
