"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it"
About this Quote
The subtext is anti-narcissistic in a specifically modern way. James lived at the hinge of industrial expansion and professionalized “success,” when status could be accumulated, displayed, and mistaken for meaning. Against that, “outlast it” reorients ambition away from personal glow and toward durable consequences: institutions built, knowledge advanced, humane habits normalized, injustices weakened. It’s not a hymn to fame so much as an argument for impact that survives your name.
There’s also a quiet rebuke of passive spirituality. James, who took religious experience seriously but refused easy metaphysics, sidesteps the question of what lasts in some cosmic ledger. He leaves it earthly and measurable: what remains after you’re gone, and whether it was worth the burn rate. “Spend” implies risk, even waste; you can’t hedge your way into significance. You choose a cause, a craft, a community, and you accept the trade: less comfort now, more residue later.
In James’s context, this is philosophy doing what he thought it should do: not decorate life with concepts, but pressure it into action.
Quote Details
| Topic | Legacy & Remembrance |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
James, William. (n.d.). The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-great-use-of-life-is-to-spend-it-for-25108/
Chicago Style
James, William. "The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-great-use-of-life-is-to-spend-it-for-25108/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-great-use-of-life-is-to-spend-it-for-25108/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.











