I love this country, Oprah.
I'm not trying to avoid my taxes.
I was gonna pay my taxes, Oprah.
I know you was.
-I was, I was. -I know you was.
But then the album flopped.
Aha.
So the album flopped, so we actually didn't--
-we didn't have-- -I don't even think--
you know, the way it's written, I don't even think--
it doesn't even sound like
you were trying to avoid your taxes.
You were just like-- you don't even know
you're supposed to be payin' your taxes.
Yeah, I wasn't paying attention to that kinda stuff.
Well, I-I know you're up with your taxes now, Will.
We know that for sure, okay?
So right before Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I think--
people would be surprised to know;
this is the first time I realized this--
is that you basically lost everything.
The government seized your cars.
It took your home. You ended up in jail.
And you describe it in two words, actually:
-rock bottom. -Rock bottom.
What was at the root of that downfall, Will?
You know what? It's like...
And the life lesson you took from it.
So w-what--you know...
-When it rains, it pours. -Yeah.
Right? So, um, you know, getting into the fight
at the radio station,
you know, Charlie punching the dude
-that landed me in jail. -In jail.
So the money is gone, the car's gone.
I'm layin' on the floor
in a jail cell, and I'm like...
you've got to be kidding me.
I won a Grammy eight months ago, right?
Like...what is happening?
-Mm-hmm. -And...it's just that--
just that--the spiral, when it--
when it starts goin' the other way,
it's like sometimes you just have to get out the way
and just wait till the-- the, you know,
-the downward spiral stops. -But it's a spiral
that you make so very clear in Will that you created.
-Yes. -And now you can see it
yourself, you see how...
the energy of yourself, everything that you were doing
created that exact moment.
Yeah, I talk about the, um,
the idea of natural destruction
-versus self-destruction. -Yeah.
And, you know,
907 01:37:29,427 --> 01:37:33,264
impermanence is the law of the universe.
So things are going to deteriorate.
Everything's gonna grow. It's gonna deteriorate and die,
and you gotta be ready to make the next thing,
and that's natural, right?
So we all have to contend with the entropy of the...
-Correct. -The universe in that way.
That's why it's such a crime when you do it to yourself.
-It's like... -And that's when you
-hate yourself the most. -Don't do it to yourself!
I love when you say this, though.
"There's a strange thing that happens
when somebody falls:
your demise somehow proves to everybody
you've ever disagreed with that they were right
and you were wrong.
They develop a smugness and seem to get a brutal enjoyment
out of the fact that God is finally punishing you.
People tend to have a schizophrenic relationship
with winners-- if you're down too long,
you become an underdog
and they feel impelled to root for you.
But if you're ever unfortunate enough to be up too long,
you better get a helmet."
Helmet.
Amen to that!
-Don't we know that? -Yes. Absolutely.
That's one of the things that I hope people
can take away from the book when you see the...
That's--that's right.
You know, like that's--
you're not gonna get around that.
-Yep. -You're not gonna get around
the rise and fall and the rise and fall of--
You just gotta be able to hold on to yourself.
You just gotta be able to hold on, and it's like it's...
endure when it's time to endure,
enjoy when it's time to enjoy, you know?
But you're not gonna get around the ups and downs of that.
And, you know, took me a few of 'em to realize
that, um, it's not because I'm stupid.
It's not because I'm weak.
-It's not because I'm a coward. -Coward.
It's not any of that. It's like
that's what life is.
Yeah.
-Yeah. -That's what it is!
You know, and all of those things
are the natural ebb and flow and the natural rise and fall,
and...
if we can relax, you know,
-and settle into it... -Yeah.
Then we can enjoy, you know,
when the springtime is there,
and we just buckle down when the winter comes.
But we're not gonna be able to get around seasons.
And also, your father had
the exact same definition.
I was saying, "I thought that was
my own personal definition."
But then I read it and I thought,
"Guess I'm not the only one who had it."
Your father has the exact same definition of luck that I have:
that luck is preparation meeting the moment
-of opportunity. -Opportunity.