Daily Inspiration Quote by George Colman

Gratitude rarely looks as sleek as ambition, which is why Colman’s line lands like a quiet reprimand. “Praise the bridge that carried you over” isn’t a Hallmark nudge to say thank you; it’s stagecraft aimed at a very specific human failing: the urge to treat help as scaffolding you kick away once you’ve climbed.

The genius is in the metaphor’s economy. A bridge is temporary in our attention but permanent in its labor. You don’t admire it while crossing; you admire the view on the other side. Colman flips the camera back to the structure and, by doing so, exposes the moral sleight-of-hand in self-mythologizing. Success stories often edit out the middlemen: teachers, patrons, friends who made introductions, institutions that took a chance, even sheer luck. “Carried you over” insists you were borne, not purely self-propelled, undercutting the heroic narrative without sounding preachy.

As a dramatist, Colman is attuned to social performance: who gets credited, who gets forgotten, who gets used. The line doubles as advice and warning. Praise isn’t just etiquette; it’s a check against ingratitude’s favorite companion, arrogance. It also hints at reciprocity: today’s bridge was built by someone, and tomorrow you may be asked to be one. The subtext is bluntly political in any era that worships the “self-made” while relying on invisible infrastructure.