If my leg falls off, I'll get a prosthetic. There'd be no deep

When John Lydon declared, “If my leg falls off, I'll get a prosthetic. There'd be no deep sadness about. I'd just get on with it! It's called life, and I love life. You have to be positive, and you have to crack on no matter what,” he revealed the fierce courage of one who refuses to bow before adversity. His words are not merely defiance but a hymn to resilience, a declaration that no wound, no loss, no hardship can rob a person of the will to live fully. He proclaims a philosophy older than empires: life is not about avoiding trials, but about cracking on with strength and joy in spite of them.

The ancients would have recognized this spirit. The Stoics spoke often of the unpredictability of fate. Epictetus, who lived as a slave with a broken body, taught that what happens to us is beyond our control, but how we respond is ours alone. Lydon echoes this wisdom: if life takes your leg, you do not drown in sorrow—you rise with new strength, adapt, and continue to live with passion. For true greatness lies not in unbroken bodies but in unbroken spirits.

History gives us powerful examples of this truth. Consider Admiral Horatio Nelson, who lost an arm and the sight in one eye yet became one of Britain’s most legendary naval commanders. His injuries could have ended his career, but instead they became marks of his resilience, proof of his unyielding dedication. Like Lydon, he chose not despair but determination, and by doing so, he carved his name into the memory of nations.

Lydon’s words are also filled with an uncommon love of life. He does not deny suffering, nor does he shrink from it, but he embraces existence in its fullness. To love life is to accept its trials alongside its joys, its scars alongside its beauty. It is to recognize that each day is worth living, even when burdened by hardship. His declaration that he would not sink into “deep sadness” is not indifference but reverence—reverence for the fleeting, precious gift of existence itself.

At the heart of his teaching is positivity as an act of defiance. Not the shallow positivity of pretending all is well, but the deeper positivity of choosing joy and action even when the world strikes hard. To “crack on” is to rise each morning with a will unbent, to refuse the chains of despair, and to build meaning with the tools one has left. This is the courage of those who endure and the spirit of those who inspire.

The lesson is clear: do not let adversity steal your joy. Whatever falls away, whatever breaks, whatever is lost, life itself remains a treasure worth cherishing. The body may falter, but the heart and mind can choose to endure with dignity and to live with fire. Let your response to trial be not despair but resolve, not bitterness but gratitude for the life that remains.

In practice, this means facing hardship with adaptation. If a door closes, build another. If a loss comes, mourn but then rise again with strength. Surround yourself with companions who remind you to love life, even when it feels heavy. Each setback must be treated not as the end, but as a summons to new courage. For resilience is not found in avoiding wounds but in walking proudly with them.

Therefore, let us carry Lydon’s wisdom: love life, stay positive, and crack on no matter what. For the storms will come, the body will fail, and fate will test us all. But those who keep their joy alive, who refuse to be crushed by sorrow, will shine brighter than any hardship. In them, we see the true glory of humanity: the unyielding will to live, to fight, and to love life until the very end.