by Min Straussman
“What is the meaning of life?” This question has been debated for millennia by philosophers, theologians, artists, and everyday people who can’t sleep. The following 12 quotes describe the meaning of life as everything from love to changing the world to engaging with reality. These words of insight from great thinkers can help us understand what is really important.
1.
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.
—Thomas Merton, Love and Living, 1979
destiny
Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk who devoted his life to theological study and social justice. In his essay “Love and Need,” he describes love as destiny, “something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.” This was part of his overall message, which we see in the second part of this quote: community is a key source of love and support.
2.
One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion.
—Simone de Beauvoir, The Coming of Age, trans. Patrick O’Brian, 1970 [1996]
indignation
French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir wrote about what she had learned in her older years in the text The Coming of Age. She echoes Merton’s message about the importance of valuing others in this quote. What is interesting is that, in typical Beauvoir fashion, in addition to the usual love, friendship, and compassion, she adds indignation, “strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base; righteous anger.” To Beauvoir, holding others to account is a way of giving life value.
3.
You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.
—Angela Davis, lecture at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, February 13, 2014
transform
Another thinker whose dedication to social justice informs their understanding of the meaning of life is Angela Davis, a philosopher, academic, and activist for women’s rights and many other causes. In a speech to students at Southern Illinois University, she describes transforming the world as the purpose of life. Transform has a variety of meanings, including “metamorphose,” “convert,” and “transmute.” This process takes a long time and requires dedication, so it has to be done “all the time,” over and over again.
4.
Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.
—Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Richard Philcox, 2004
opacity
Like the other thinkers we have seen so far, Fanon dedicated his life to social justice. However, in this quote he does not give a concrete description of the meaning of life but rather challenges the reader and their generation to find their own. Past translations of this quote have rendered the French opacité as “obscurity,” but opacity, “the state or quality of being not transparent or translucent,” is a more direct translation. Obscurity implies dimness or indistinctness, whereas opacity simply suggests a lack of transparency.
5.
There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.
—Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
cosmic
While there may be some universal answers to the question “what is the meaning of life?”, each of us has to come to our own understanding. This is what writer Anaïs Nin is referring to in this quote. She feels that there is no “one big cosmic meaning for all.” Cosmic here means “of or relating to the world or universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious system.” The idea of the cosmos suggests that there is some kind of larger order to the world, which Nin rejects.
6.
Live your life. Do not be lived by it. In truth and in error, in sickness and health, be your own self. You can only achieve this by dreaming, because your real life, your human life, does not belong to you, but to others. Therefore, replace life with dreaming and take care to dream perfectly. In all your real-life actions, from the day you are born until the day you die, it is not you performing those actions; you do not live, you are merely lived.
—Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, trans. Richard Zenith, 1913 [2002]
dreaming
Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa wrote under dozens of “semi-heteronyms,” or as different characters. In the guise of Bernardo Soares, the assistant to a bookkeeper in downtown Lisbon, Pessoa shares his advice for living. In his view, dreaming is critical to living a full life, rather than being dominated by it. Dreaming here could be read both literally, as in “a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep,” and figuratively, “an aspiration; goal; aim.”
7.
We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.
—Iris Murdoch, interview in the Times, April 15, 1983
reality
Philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch could not disagree more with Pessoa’s view on the meaning of life. While Pessoa feels dreaming is key, Murdoch feels finding reality should be the goal in life. Murdoch’s philosophy focuses often on the question of reality. She feels that understanding reality is what can motivate people to act morally.
8.
In art and dream, may you proceed with abandon. In life, may you proceed with balance and stealth. For nothing is more precious than the life force and may the love of that force guide you as you go.
—Patti Smith, Early Work, 1970-1979
abandon
Striking a balance between these two extremes, musician and artist Patti Smith gives advice on how to make the most of both the dreamy side of oneself and reality. She advises that one should dream with abandon, a word which here means “to give oneself over to natural impulses, usually without self-control,” rather than “to give up.” However, one should also strive for “balance” in action.
9.
If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am for my own self [only], what am I? And if not now, when?
—Rabbi Hillel, Pirkei Avot 1:14, trans. Joshua Kulp
now
Another quote that gets to the question of life’s meaning in a way that balances between competing demands comes from Rabbi Hillel. In his commentary on the Torah, known as Mishnah, Hillel advises that one should stand up for oneself, look out for one’s community, and act with urgency, now—don’t put it off until tomorrow. This series of questions is a form of rhetorical device known as aporia, “the expression of a simulated or real doubt, as about where to begin or what to do or say.”
10.
The soul is an essence created, and living, and intellectual, transmitting from itself to an organized and sentient body the power of living and of grasping objects of sense, as long as a natural constitution capable of this holds together.
—St. Macrina the Younger, quoted in On the Soul and the Resurrection by St. Gregory of Nyssa, trans. Catharine P. Roth, c. 335-394 [1993]
essence
In the 4th century CE, St. Macrina the Younger was thinking about how to combine the principles of what we today call “science” and her religious faith. In her writing, she attempts to explain the meaning of life and morality through a synthesis of the natural and spiritual world. In this quote, she describes the soul as an essence, “the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual feature or features,” which is tied to a physical “body.”
11.
Why dwell on the grievances, on the litter of bitterness, the distortions of others, the restrictive boundaries of smaller selves? I want, instead, to live with an awareness and appreciation of all the layers … That might be the core principle that guides me, what I believe: not content or credo, but a way of being in the world —a life lived in kindness and kindredness, in abiding love.
—Julia Alvarez, The New York Times, May 26, 2021
kindredness
Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American writer and poet best known for her novel In the Time of the Butterflies (1994). In a column in The New York Times, she shared her thoughts on the purpose and meaning of life. She focused especially on kindredness. Kindred literally refers to “a person’s relatives collectively,” but here Alvarez uses the word figuratively to describe those “associated by having the same belief, attitude, or feeling.”
12.
To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life.
—Paulo Coelho, Aleph, 2011
pondering
Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho’s thoughts on the meaning of life seem particularly fitting for the end of our article. He advises against pondering the meaning of life too much. Pondering is a verb meaning “to weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully.” In other words, don’t overthink it—just try to take life as it comes.
There are countless possible descriptions of life and its meaning. This collection of quotes only begins to scratch the surface of all the possible meanings of life. And, as Anaïs Nin reminds us, each of us have to find our own answers. You might even say that the search for life’s meaning is itself the point.
Min Straussman is a freelance writer and educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A frequent contributor to Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, his work has also appeared in Hey Alma, beestung, and other publications. He lives in Paris. For more by Min, read: Terms For Understanding The Diversity Of Jewish American Life | A Language Of Pride: Understand The Terms Around LGBTQ Identity |7 Meaningful Ways To Express Your Gratitude | 19 Trailblazing Quotes From Women Of Color On The Pursuit Of Suffrage | 15 Earth Day Quotes That Remind Us To Appreciate And Preserve Our World
