
“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”
Source: Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics
Source: book Man's Search For Meaning
“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”
Source: Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics
Source: Existentialism Is a Humanism (1946), p. 58
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Not by Shakespeare, but from Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times: A Book of Meditations, a 1993 self-help book by David S. Viscott.
Misattributed
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/16/purpose-gift/
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life.”
“Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.”
Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
“Pyrrhus: Mercy often means giving death, not life.”
Pyrrhus: Mortem misericors saepe pro vita dabit.
Troades (The Trojan Women), line 329; Translation by Emily Wilson
Tragedies
Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning (1997)
Context: It is true, Logotherapy, deals with the Logos; it deals with Meaning. Specifically I see Logotherapy in helping others to see meaning in life. But we cannot “give” meaning to the life of others. And if this is true of meaning per se, how much does it hold for Ultimate Meaning?
“Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.”
Section 75
The True Believer (1951), Part Three: United Action and Self-Sacrifice
Context: Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.