Quotes About Meaning

Justin Taylor, editor of Crossway, cites the example of one writer who wanted to thank "my parents, Jesus and Ayn Rand." See what happens when you leave out the serial comma? But Andy Le Peau, at InterVarsity, points to a different kind of example. Suppose someone were to dedicate his book to "my mother, Ayn Rand, and God"? Now the serial comma creates the idea that Ayn Rand is in apposition to mother, which it presumably wasn't.

Now it makes sense, for example, if the children are taking a vocabulary test of 100 words, and one of the kids misses thirteen of them, to give him an 87 percent. But we go far beyond this. A student writes an essay on a sunset, let us say, and the teacher writes 87 percent at the top of that paper. What he is saying, in effect, is that there is a mathematical metaphor operative here. The figure of 87 is to 100 what this submitted essay is . . . to what? What on earth is this supposed to mean?

Boredom exists, as Frankl (1955) argued, so that "we will escape inactivity and do justice to the meaning of our life" (p. 87).

Para mantener la salud, el ser humano debe tener un objetivo, un propósito en la vida que respete y por el que se sienta orgulloso de luchar. La inspiración en un ideal y en un propósito común es la mejor manera de ayudar a cada persona a soportar las penalidades.» Hans Selye

On the Threshold by Professor Pezhman Mosleh is a wonderful tribute to Dr. Yalom.

If we focus our efforts on doing, we will always fall short of our real potential. We can do all the right things, but if we do not do them for the right reasons, they will never have the power to change our internal view of life.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Cat, you ruined mom's dress!" "Honey, it was ruined when she bought it.

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store.

No matter what you do, somebody always imputes meaning into your books.

Do you see what I mean?… They've proved they ARE persons, no matter how small, And their whole world was saved by the Smallest of All!

Only to the extent that someone is living out this self transcendence of human existence, is he truly human or does he become his true self. He becomes so, not by concerning himself with his self's actualization, but by forgetting himself and giving himself, overlooking himself and focusing outward.

Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how.'

But I never get attracted to fans cause the eager beaver could be the collapse of a dam.

I'm not after fame and success and fortune and power. It's mostly that I want to have a good job and have good friends that's the good stuff in life.

Well, dawn could be whenever you got up. The problem was that when you started rationalizing too many things, the significance of the original action was diminished.

I like to think of myself as practicing Hopeful. I do my best, and I hope there's something out there that will make it all make sense. -Sharon, Super Powereds: Year 3

Plan on killing yourself? First, take some time to make the sun shine brighter, the earth glow bluer, and solve just one of the many problems that assail us all. See? You do have something to live for.

One can never scheme for meeting the right person. It is always by chance, an accident, but you know it's the special one because suddenly life throbs with colour and opportunity and meaning. Your deepest needs are fulfilled. You have everything. You're in heaven.

Don Juan: I feel like God is punishing me and I don't know what for. Nurse 2: God's not punishing you. Life is Hell for all of us. You're not special.

In the process, what must be spoken meets what cannot be said. Each word is a catalyst, requiring the writer to break out forcefully from another story, from the primitive camp where history, society, and politics converge, to touch upon that 'what' and that 'who.' At that touch, one finds the unlimited boundaries of man, concealed by words.

But as Mark Twain once observed, the difference between the right word and the almost right word is as the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. So do strive for that right word!

The destination is a happy life, an accomplished life that doesn't end with death but with eternal life.

If we have a purpose in life beyond being a cog in the human machine, mine is to help inspire people and that's pretty cool. I would like to motivate the world.