Life

"It’s not my wish to walk intoxicated; to live for never is not my choice."

"A portion of life, every moment gets torn out of me hurting, and flees away."

"Let us (since life can little more supply Than just to look about us and to die) Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man; A mighty maze! but not without a plan."

"Placed on this isthmus of a middle state."

"Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate and rot."

"On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, Reason the card, but passion is the gale."

"Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne, They rise, they break, and to that sea return."

"Like following life through creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect."

"See how the World its Veterans rewards! A Youth of Frolics, an old Age of Cards; Fair to no purpose, artful to no end, Young without Lovers, old without a Friend; A Fop their Passion, but their Prize a Sot; Alive ridiculous, and dead forgot."

"It was said that life was cheap in Ankh-Morpork. This was, of course, completely wrong. Life was often very expensive; you could get death for free."

"If my delight had not been in your law, I should have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your commandments, because by them you give me life. I am yours; oh, that you would save me! for I study your commandments."

"General:... when one considers the meaning of life, it is a struggle between alternative viewpoints of life itself. And without the ability to defend one's own viewpoint against other perhaps more aggressive ideologies, then reasonableness and moderation could, quite simply, disappear. That is why we'll always need an army, and may God strike me down were it to be otherwise."

"Chairman: Item six on the agenda, the Meaning of Life. Now Harry, you’ve had some thoughts on this. :Harry: That’s right, yeah. I’ve had a team working on this over the past few weeks, and what we’ve come up with can be reduced to two fundamental concepts. One, people are not wearing enough hats. Two, matter is energy. In the Universe there are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person’s soul. However, this soul does not exist ab initio as orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved owing to man’s unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia. [Pause.] :Max: What was that about hats?"

"Participate in your life, don't just bear witness to the rain washing you away."

"Our Life is nothing but a Winter's day; Some only break their Fast, and so away: Others stay to Dinner, and depart full fed: The deepest Age but Sups, and goes to Bed: He's most in debt that lingers out the Day: Who dies betime, has less, and less to pay."

"Know that the life of this world is only a game, a temporary attraction, a means of boastfulness among yourselves and a place for multiplying your wealth and children. It is like the rain which produces plants that are attractive to the unbelievers. These plants flourish, turn yellow, and then become crushed bits of straw. In the hereafter there will be severe punishment or forgiveness and mercy from God. This worldly life is only an illusion."

"Et là commençay à penser qu'il est bien vray ce que l'on dit, que la moitié du monde ne sçait comment l'aultre vit."

": And there I began to think that it is very true, which is said, that half the world does not know how the other half lives."

"Vivat, fifat, pipat, bibat."

": May he live, fife, pipe, drink."

"What is life? For the happy a pleasure, for the poor a torture, and to all an expectation of death."

"I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store; For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial's hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have paid."

"Many people ask, for example: What is the purpose of my life? Meaning: What am I meant to do? but the purpose of your life, and each life, is in its being. That being may include certain actions, but the acts themselves are only important in that they spring out of the essence of your life, which simply by being is bound to fulfill its purposes."

"Without freedom of choice there is no creativity. Without creativity there is no life. The Body dies."

"We know how complicated life is today, how difficult it is, and we feel distressed about each lack of understanding, about each delay, about everything that complicates the progress. The neglect of one's duties can never be expiated. Your task is not an easy one, but with easy things one will not perfect oneself. Pure striving is always supported by the Great Teacher. Therefore, be victorious! The Great Teacher is always ready to give a helping hand to the striving disciple, but such help usually comes after all possibilities have been exhausted by the disciple himself. And herein lies the greatest wisdom and a great cosmic law of evolution. Only at the very limit of tension are our forces transmuted into the finest energies. Our thoughts are with you, and we know that all will come about safely unless we ourselves sever the silver cord by our selfishness, sluggardliness, and superficial attitude toward the Advices."

"I must agree, life is the best teacher, and without life nothing can be learned. But someone has to open our eyes, and without the leading Principle all evolution would be retarded for endless centuries. Therefore, the books of the Teaching are so essential."

"Verily, life is full of miracles if we approach everything with an open heart and with striving to beauty and self-perfection. And not by way of all sorts of artificial meditations and concentrations and other mechanical means, but in the great deed of everyday life. This great deed of life in all its severe beauty is practised by N.K. His life is the life of complete renunciation; he lives for the great service to humanity. Nothing belongs to him and he himself belongs not to himself. The greatest tolerance is his nature, and, like a magnet, he attracts the most diverse people and groups them around his name. The wisdom of the Master is his wisdom. Had it been otherwise, how could he be such a prophet? How could he succeed in the entrusted mission in spite of the dreadful obstacles which are raised by the dark ones at the end of Kali Yuga, during the dreadful Armageddon?"

"Life is most complicated, and only the consciousness which is united with the Higher Will can sense the right direction and steer its vessel through all storms. But the storms are inevitable and useful, for the ship as well as for the pilot and the whole crew, because only in this way are strength and firmness tested and also fearlessness and alertness developed."

"Indeed, all the foundations of the Living Ethics must be applied in life, as otherwise life is impossible. With the new combinations of the planets, there will be a favorable radiation of spiritual rays, which will enable people to awaken their dormant energies. And verily, the feeling of reverence and highest devotion must again be sensed by humanity, if it is to continue its evolution. Likewise, cooperation between all the branches of life is becoming more and more possible. Precisely, science will stretch out a helping hand to religion, and the Indications of the Great Teachers will assume the radiance and power of the rays from the laboratories."

"In short, in life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard; don't foul and don't shirk, but hit the line hard!"

"Brief and powerless is man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark."

"Life and hope for the world are to be found only in the deeds of love."

"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

"Sed multi mortales dediti ventri atque somno, indocti incultique vitam sicuti peregrinantes transiere."

"Our biggest tragedy is not knowing what to do with our lives."

"Quem mihi dabis qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat, qui diem aestimet, qui intellegat se cotidie mori?"

"In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus: magna pars eius iam praeterit; quidquid aetatis retro est mors tenet."

"Nulli potest secura vita contingere qui de producenda nimis cogitat."

"Nemo quam bene vivat sed quam diu curat, cum omnibus possit contingere ut bene vivant, ut diu nulli."

"Sapiens vivit quantum debet, non quantum potest."

"Sikhs believe that human beings spend their time in a cycle of birth, life, and rebirth. They share this belief with followers of other Indian religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The quality of each particular life depends on the law of Karma. Karma sets the quality of a life according to how well or badly a person behaved in their previous life. The only way out of this cycle, which all faiths regard as painful, is to achieve a total knowledge of and union with God."

"The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

"I believe there are ways whose ends are life instead of death."

"Life could not be lived wet, whether it be in rain or tears."

"Life doesn't end just because someone leaves."

"My life is devoted to pulling me underground yet, I stand strong on my battleground determined I am not to let my life defeat my pride."

"Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not; Truth be veiled, but still it burneth; Love repulsed, — but it returneth!"

"Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, Stains the white radiance of eternity."

"If you oppress a man you will suffer oppression in this or another life and reap the fruit of the seed you have sown in this life. If you feed the poor, you will have plenty of food in this or another life. There is no power on this earth, which can stop the action from yielding their fruits. Such is the Law of Karma."