What Is “The Great Perhaps”?
The term “the great perhaps” comes from the last words from famous poet Francois Rabelais when he said, “I go now to seek a great perhaps.” The quote was made even more famous from the book “Looking for Alaska” by John Green.
The famous last words were intended to explain to Rabelais’s friends and family while he was about to die that he is going on a new adventure and that it is a great unknown result. The book “Looking for Alaska” by John Green uses his main character named Miles “Pudge” Halter, whose passion is memorizing people’s last words. The quote is one of Miles’s favorites, and it reflects the changes that mirror his own life. Miles is about to change schools and is going to attend the prep school that his father went to. The situation is a “great perhaps” for Miles, because he is severely introverted. He doesn’t know what to expect when he starts to actually make real friends and subsequently falls in love as well. This quote is meant to be inspiring for people who fear the unknown, or a change in the status quo, to be confident that something great is just around the corner.
