Quotes About Purpose

One of the century's most famous intellectual pronouncements comes at the beginning of The Myth of Sisyphus: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy

I knew all along that the prize I had set my life on was not worth the winning.

Once the fight-or-flight reaction gets triggered, the blood flows from our brain to our limbs, and our ability to think clearly diminishes. We forget our purpose and often act exactly contrary to our interests. When we react, we give away our power—our power to influence the other person constructively and to change the situation for the better. When we react, we are, in effect, saying no to our interests, no to ourselves.

Take a deep breath and focus on your purpose—your Yes—in this situation. Ask yourself what you really want and what is really important here. In other words, shift from being reactive and focused on No, to being proactive and focused on Yes.

I was born to be a spinster, and, by God, I'm going to spin.

The things that one most wants to do are the things that are probably most worth doing

Go therefore, and do that which is within you to do. Take no heed of gestures that beckon you aside. Ask of no man permission to perform.

I believe that service lies in this--that each of us should use in the highest way, to the very widest possible extent, the abilities and powers they have been given. I believe that to be content with humbler service, when one is able to stand greater responsibility, is only cowardice.

I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial... I thought I knew a good deal about it all, I was sure I should not fail.

What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?

To all of us comes that moment in life when we are literally tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to ourselves and our talents. What a pity if that moment finds us unprepared.

After all, a man's Life must be nailed to a cross either of Thought or Action. Without work there is no play. When I am in the Socratic

It isn't where you're born in this world, it's what you do.

Demelza con la sua femminilità appena sbocciata. Una ragazzina appassionata che si rotolava nella polvere con il suo brutto cane; una ragazza che conduceva dei buoi; una donna... il resto aveva davvero importanza?

I don't know if mama was right, that we each have a destiny, or if if was Lt Dan, that we are all just floating around, accidental, like on a breeze, but I think... I think... maybe... it's both happening at the same time.

It's no use saying, We are doing our best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.

You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

It was not, however, knowledge that was lacking, but the collective will-power to turn it to account.

It is not without pleasure that i can tell my majestic colleagues who write for humanity, and in the name of humanity, that i have never written a single word other than for a selfish purpose; but at, each time, the work betrayed me and escaped from me

We were inclined to believe that the nose was not for the snuff box but the snuff box for the nose.

6.41 Der Sinn der Welt muss ausserhalb ihrer liegen.