Everything in this world has a hidden meaning.
–Nikos Kazantzakis (1883 โ 1957)
It’s in responsibility that most people find the meaning that sustains them through life. It’s not in happiness. It’s not in impulsive pleasure.”
–Jordan Peterson (b. 1962)
Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives importance and value to time. Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it.
–Raymond Kurzweil (b. 1948)
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.
–Thomas Merton (1915 โ 1968)
A good song gathers the years in. It’s why you can sing it with such conviction 40 years after it’s been written. A good song takes on more meaning as the years pass by.
–Bruce Springsteen (b. 1949)
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are look for the meaning of life.
–Albert Camus (1913 โ 1960)
Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!
–Stevie Wonder (b. 1950)
There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home.
–John Stuart Mill (1806 โ 1873)
From a motivation perspective, helping others enriches the meaning and purpose of our own lives, showing us that our contributions matter and energizing us to work harder, longer, and smarter.
–Adam Grant (b. 1981)
Life is meaningless unless you bring meaning to it; … it is up to us to create our own existence. Unless you do something, unless you make something it’s as though you aren’t there.
–Alan Alda (b. 1936)
P.S. Shabbat Shalom!
Iโm offline for the Jewish Sabbath for ~25 hours from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. I look forward to reconnecting with you soon!
The Skeptic's Kaddish ๐ฎ๐ฑ 
Shalom David, an eclectic similitude here.
That is cleverly stated, Paul ๐โค๏ธ๐งก
Thank you โ I was so struck by the varied collection of writers you quoted ๐
I like looking at concepts from different angles ๐
indeed, and a great collection too ๐
Love this, David. The Camus quote is my favorite. So true. โค๏ธ
He’ll be around forever, I think…
Completely agree.
I’m with Bruce. And also Stevie in this respect–without problems to solve, life would be boring. That’s why Heaven has absolutely no appeal to me. So I’m glad I’m not going to end up there. (K)
๐ Kerfe ๐
“Meaning lies as much in the mind of the reader as in the Haiku.โ Douglas R. Hofstadter
(American sentence)
Wow… I… How… Did Hofstadter write an American sentence by coincidence?
-David
I don’t know whether Hofstadter knew he was channeling Ginsberg when he wrote that American sentence about where the meaning of a haiku lies, but I tend to doubt that it was coincidence.
“โWhere Thereโs Pattern, Thereโs Reason The key thought in the preceding few lines is the article of faith that this pattern cannot merely be a coincidence. A mathematician who finds a pattern of this sort will instinctively ask, โWhy? What is the reason behind this order?โ Not only will all mathematicians wonder what the reason is, but even more importantly, they will all implicitly believe that whether or not anyone ever finds the reason, there must be a reason for it. Nothing happens โby accidentโ in the world of mathematics.โ
โ Douglas R. Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop
amazing. amazing.
Having paged through, not to say plumbed, Hofstadter’s ‘Godel, Escher, Bach – An Eternal Golden Braid,’ a few decades ago, I am biased toward the non-coincidence scenario, and never cease to be amazed. ; )
My Dad had that book. Brings back memories.
That may not be a coincidence, either. ; )
Reblogged this on Solitary 4 Tomorrow and commented:
meaning – another collection from our own skeptic… enjoy
๐ค
โคโคโค
๐ค Filipa ๐ค
All fine words and true….
๐งก Judy ๐งก – these are just some quotes that speak to me, but there are so many others…. I had to limit myself!
Yours,
David
Shabbat Shalom, dear friend. Be well.
๐ Selma ๐ – thank you!
Yours,
David
“Unless you do something, unless you make something itโs as though you arenโt there.” Truth. I don’t feel alive unless I’m creating something, whether it’s writing or, in years past, music or nature photography. Bringing life to a new creation brings life to me–one can’t exist without the other.
๐ Mike ๐ – that’s how I feel too.