“We are in such a haste to be doing, to be writing, to be gathering gear, to make our voices audible a moment in the derisive silence of eternity, that we forget that one thing, of which these are but parts – namely to live!” (“Walking Tours”, in The […]
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” (Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934) “The secret of […]
“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only […]
“Are you a blacksmith?” The voice behind his back was heard so unexpectedly that Vasily even shuddered. Besides he didn’t hear the door of the workshop being opened and someone come in. “Did you try to knock?” he answered rudely, slightly angered at himself and at the prompt […]
In the dark morning hour, unable to sleep, staring, mind spinning, I ask, “Why am I here?” The answers arise, unstoppable: To overcome feeling that you must be famous to be worth something. To give according to the talents I gave you: understanding, compassion, wisdom in your academic […]
Excellence Reporter: Pam, what is the meaning of life? Pam Grout: I tend to second the notion of Kurt Vonnegut who famously said, “The purpose of life is to fart around. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” *** As an explorer on the frontiers of magic and enchantment, […]
Excellence Reporter: Joanne, what is the meaning of life? Joanne Fedler: It’s to wake up. It’s to awake from the idea that we are separate from other people. It’s to remember that though we seem to be here as ourselves, we are not here for ourselves. We are […]
Excellence Reporter: Sheila, what is the meaning of life? Sheila Kohler: What comes to my mind immediately in answer to this difficult question is love. Without love life has little meaning: love for one’s fellow man; love for one’s spouse and one’s children; love for one’s friends; love […]
Excellence Reporter: Adriana, what is the meaning of life? Adriana Attento: The meaning of life is to discover who you are. Beneath thoughts, ideas, feelings, images, sensations; beneath the personality or ego; beneath the fluctuating circumstances of life; beneath the ceaseless change of life is Consciousness. “The world […]
The meaning of life rests with each of us, in each of our lives to carve out. We can take a nihilist stance that says our bodies/souls are the result of a cosmic throw of the dice, a random conflagration of proliferating atoms warmed mysteriously by the ancient […]
Since I was a young man, I have from time to time fallen into dark spirals. Within the spiral, everything that was interesting to me the day before is as valueless and dull as used chewing gum, and every goal I set seems either empty, unreachable, or both. […]
Given the predations of the current occupant of the Oval Office and of formerly popular politicians, actors, and film studio owners, I become depressed that it seems dangerous nowadays to be a woman. But then I think of the Women’s Marches (for which I write monthly stories and/or blogs), […]
Excellence Reporter: Mr. Quinn, what is the meaning of life? Daniel Quinn: What is the meaning of life to me? To begin, recognize that humans aren’t something special, aren’t privileged beings, exceptions to the laws that bind all other species to the community of life. If you could […]
Excellence Reporter: Melissa, what is the meaning of life? Melissa Coleman: The meaning of life is found in death. This is not a morbid statement. When we accept the fact that none of us are getting out of here alive, there is nothing to do but live and […]
Only the men and women of a single culture write here of the meaning of life. It’s a culture seven billion strong, unified by access to a global system of interconnected computer networks. Many of these billions are unaware that we share the planet with hundreds of other […]
The meaning of life? One would think, perhaps, that after 200,000 years, dating back to the emergence of the modern human, we would have solved the riddle. That’s a lot of staring up at the sky and ruminating. Picture our very first philosopher: “I wonder, Ogg, if hitting […]
Excellence Reporter: Professor Nagler, what is the meaning of life? Michael N. Nagler: After many years of meditation, and having taught a seminar on this subject for fifteen years as well, I have come to the realization that Gandhi answered this question perhaps most simply (I paraphrase): ‘The meaning […]
Excellence Reporter 