Life & Living: Meaning of Life Quotes

Discover curated reflections that explore purpose, values, and the threads that give life coherence. These quotes invite calm contemplation and offer varied perspectives, from philosophers and poets to contemporary voices, on what makes a life meaningful. Use them to spark journaling, guide conversation, or simply pause with a thought that resonates. Whether you are seeking direction, gratitude, or clarity, this collection encourages mindful inquiry without prescribing answers.

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"That's how it is on this bitch of an earth"

Samuel Beckett, Playwright

Samuel Beckett

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?"

Robert Browning Hamilton, Writer

Robert Browning Hamilton

"It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice"

Jose Rizal, Writer

Jose Rizal

"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body"

Benjamin Franklin, Politician

Benjamin Franklin

"The only journey is the one within"

Rainer Maria Rilke, Poet

"Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't"

Richard Bach, Novelist

Richard Bach

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering"

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose"

Robert Byrne, Celebrity

Robert Byrne

"Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all"

Arthur Balfour, Statesman

Arthur Balfour

"The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation"

Peter Marshall, Clergyman

Peter Marshall

"Everything has been figured out, except how to live"

Jean-Paul Sartre, Philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre

"No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point"

Jean-Paul Sartre, Philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre

"When we speak the word "life," it must be understood we are not referring to life as we know it from its surface of fact, but to that fragile, fluctuating center which forms never reach"

Antonin Artaud, Dramatist

Antonin Artaud

"Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy"

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Educator

Abraham Joshua Heschel

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy"

Rabindranath Tagore, Poet

Rabindranath Tagore

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower"

H. C. Andersen, Writer

H. C. Andersen

"Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad"

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Novelist

Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after"

Henry David Thoreau, Author

Henry David Thoreau

"Your birth is a mistake you'll spend your whole life trying to correct"

Chuck Palahniuk, Novelist

Chuck Palahniuk

"Regarding life, the wisest men of all ages have judged alike: it is worthless"

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche

"I slept and dreamt that life was beauty; I woke and found that life was duty"

Lord Byron, Poet

Lord Byron

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"

Abraham Lincoln, President

Abraham Lincoln

"It would be so nice if something made sense for a change"

Lewis Carroll, Author

Lewis Carroll

"To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable"

Erich Fromm, Psychologist

Erich Fromm

"Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people"

Carl Sagan, Scientist

Carl Sagan

"The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground"

Gilbert K. Chesterton, Writer

Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Man - a being in search of meaning"

Plato, Philosopher

Plato

"Man's unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness; it is because there is an Infinite in him, which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the Finite"

Thomas Carlyle, Writer

Thomas Carlyle

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough"

Mae West, Actress

Mae West

"In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost"

Dante Alighieri, Poet

Dante Alighieri

"Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time"

Marian Wright Edelman, Activist

"A complete life may be one ending in so full an identification with the oneself that there is no self left to die"

Bernard Berenson, Historian

Bernard Berenson

"Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness"

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Philosopher

"Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you"

Oscar Wilde, Dramatist

Oscar Wilde

"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"

Henry David Thoreau, Author

Henry David Thoreau

"This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it"

William James, Philosopher

William James

"Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact"

William James, Philosopher

William James

"It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life"

Julius Caesar, Leader

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

William Shakespeare, Dramatist

William Shakespeare

"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well"

Voltaire, Writer

Voltaire

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