“Many things we misread as meaningful are quite ordinary coincidences. For example, it’s not unlikely that occasionally someone will phone you after you’ve been thinking about them. But we give these things value to make sense of our lives.”

TV Series and Specials (Includes DVDs), Trick of the Mind (2004–2006)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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British illusionist 1971

Karen Rose (1964) American writer

Source: Did You Miss Me?

“Separate wealth from value. All living things have value. We impart this value upon lifeless things to give them worth not vice versa.”

Lupe Fiasco (1982) rapper

Rules 2 Rule

“Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God. We are well aware that making sense and picturing are artificial, like illusion; but we can never give them up. For belief (thinking out and interpreting the present and the future) is our most important characteristic.”

Gerhard Richter (1932) German visual artist, born 1932

undated quotes, The Daily Practice of Painting, Writings (1962-1993)

“We all need to give our lives a sense of significance, of a meaning that lives on after our deaths”

Brian Reynolds Myers (1963) American professor of international studies

2010s, Interview with Joshua Stanton (August 2017)
Context: If Kim Jong Un is Chosun, as the slogan goes, then his decline in popularity must be the state’s too? But it doesn’t work that way. We all need to give our lives a sense of significance, of a meaning that lives on after our deaths. The North Koreans get that from their nationalism, which is one with their patriotism. If they lose that, what do they have?

“In carefully scrutinizing the affairs of the past, we find that there are many different opinions about them, and that there are some things that are quite unclear. It is better to regard such things as unknowable.”

Tsunetomo Yamamoto book Hagakure

Hagakure (c. 1716)

“The important thing about having lots of things to remember is that you’ve got to go somewhere afterwards where you can remember them, you see? You’ve got to stop. You haven’t really been anywhere until you’ve got back home.”

Terry Pratchett book The Light Fantastic

Source: The Light Fantastic

“If you ever wonder whether America is big enough to hold multitudes, strong enough to withstand the forces of change, brave enough to live up to our ideals even in times of trial, then look to the generations of ordinary citizens who have proven again and again that we are worthy of that. That’s our great inheritance -- what ordinary people have done to build this country and make these words live. And it’s our generation’s task to follow their example in this journey -- to keep building an America where no matter who we are or what we look like, or who we love or what we believe, we can make of our lives what we will. You will not and should not forget your history and your past. That adds to the richness of American life. But you are now American. You’ve got obligations as citizens. And I’m absolutely confident you will meet them.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2015, Naturalization Ceremony speech (December 2015)

“I would say, we can't allow ourselves to be frightened into not living our lives, and I think that we have to keep going and we have to keep going with the faith that thing will get better … And things will get better when we make them better.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

Interview on Entertainment Tonight, as quoted in "Oprah Winfrey Offers Words of Wisdom in Wake of Deadly Las Vegas Shooting", KTVB (2 October 2017)

“They live forever, but many of them are even more lonely and miserable than we are. Why do you think they bother with us? We teach them life’s value.”

N. K. Jemisin book The Broken Kingdoms

Source: The Broken Kingdoms (2011), Chapter 17 “A Golden Chain” (engraving on metal plate) (p. 309)

“Whenever I meet someone, talk to someone on the phone, it’s a great feeling, knowing you’ve made their day or that they love the show and they love watching. I mean, it gives them something to do. It’s a great feeling.”

Emily Osment (1992) American actress

Source: Emily Osment Exclusive Interview http://www.thestarscoop.com/interviews/emily-osment-exclusive-interview/ (November 30, 2006)

“Many things we misread as meaningful are quite ordinary coincidences. For example, it’s not unlikely that occasionally someone will phone you after you’ve been thinking about them. But we give these things value to make sense of our lives.”

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