The beauty here lies in Hurston's refusal to soften the impossible—she doesn't ask us to reach for realistic goals or climb a sensible ladder, but rather to *jump* at something we cannot touch, knowing we'll fall short. What makes this maternal wisdom so different from the usual "believe in yourself" platitude is that it acknowledges failure as the point, not the obstacle: a child who jumps at the sun, even while missing it, lands higher than one who never tries. You see this play out in small ways—the person who applies for a job they're "not quite qualified for" often gains more from the attempt than from the safe choice, whether they get hired or not. Hurston understood that aspiration itself, the sheer act of reaching beyond what seems possible, is what shapes a person.