Charlie Chaplin's Own Story

LIFE itself is a comedy — a slap-stick comedy at that. It is always hitting you over the head with the unexpected. You reach to get the thing you want — slap! bang! It's gone! You strike at your enemy and hit a friend. You walk confidently, and fall. Whether it is tragedy or comedy depends on how you look at it. There is not a hair's breadth between them. When I was eleven years old, homeless and starving in London, I had big dreams. I was a precocious youngster, full of imagination and fancies and pride. My dream was to become a great musician, or an actor like Booth. Here I am to-day, becoming a millionaire because I wear funny shoes. Slap-stick comedy, what?