"Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much, if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?...I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing; but the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing; but the man who lives the span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning- that, I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here."
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Novelists from the United StatesJews from the United StatesPeople from New York CityPostmodern authorsRabbis from the United States
Original Language: English
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David Malter to his son, Reuven (p. 217)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chaim_Potok
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Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok (17 February 1929 - 23 July 2002) was an American author and rabbi.
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