What is the meaning of life?

[Mdraluck23]

What is a "Meaning of Life" professor, anyway? Is this a philosophy or religion class?

I'm still unsure exactly what you meant too, Pepsi. Am I supposed to feel insulted or condescended? Or was this praise for my creativity? What is this I don't even.

 

[Magick Man]

"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

Oh, sorry, that's what is best in life.

The meaning is: have fun, do good stuff, don't get yourself killed. In the great scheme of things, nothing you do in life is going to matter very much. So the only thing that really matters is what you do. Don't be the guy that thinks about doing cool s*** but ends up always riding the bench.

 

[JadeEast]

Holding objectivity in one hand and subjectivity in the other, while balancing on the thin line between agency and communion. 

 

[arnesto]

The meaning of life is to develope yourself and make progress.
 
I asked my sister what the meaning of life was and she said that it was to be happy.
 
That is part of the answer but not the complete answer, I told her.
 
If you develope yourself and make progress then you will feel happy. Happiness in itself is not the goal.
 
Decide what is meaningful to you and pursue it as a goal.
 
 
If you look back on the human race for the past 3000 years, we progressed so much in terms of civilization, our thinking, and modern inventions.
 
When you think about where we will be in 3000 years from now, I am sure that there will be big step forward in a similar way that we have progressed.
 
Think of yourself and how you are part of the big picture and what you will do with the time you have.
 
 
 

 

[grokit]

Quote:

The meaning of life is to develope yourself and make progress.
 
I asked my sister what the meaning of life was and she said that it was to be happy.
 
That is part of the answer but not the complete answer, I told her.
 
If you develope yourself and make progress then you will feel happy. Happiness in itself is not the goal.
 
Decide what is meaningful to you and pursue it as a goal.
 
If you look back on the human race for the past 3000 years, we progressed so much in terms of civilization, our thinking, and modern inventions.
 
When you think about where we will be in 3000 years from now, I am sure that there will be big step forward in a similar way that we have progressed.
 
Think of yourself and how you are part of the big picture and what you will do with the time you have.

 
I agree with that last part. The true meaning of life is Death. It is the one thing that all living creatures have in common, that we will all eventually "meet our maker". All that matters is how we are remembered, or forgotten.
 
Steve Jobs: “...death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”
 
Billy Jack: "Long ago, I learned that [death is] my constant companion. He eats with me, he walks we me, he even sleeps with me."
 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

 
I agree with that last part. The true meaning of life is Death.

 


If that were true, there would be no life. There would be no reason to live. Everyone would just commit suicide.

 

[grokit]

 And the true meaning of Death is what you have done with your Life.

 

[Head Injury]

But you're dead. Nothing matters after that. Unless you're talking something spiritual, at which point I'll leave.
 
Besides, if the meaning of life is death, and the meaning of death is what you did in life, doesn't that basically mean the meaning of life is what you do in life? No need to get all emo with the death crap.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

But you're dead. Nothing matters after that.

 
The people that you leave behind may disagree.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

The people that you leave behind may disagree.

 
They'll die too. Doesn't matter, right? It's just a long chain of life waiting to die.
 
And if what you do for others is the meaning of death, does that mean we're worthless until we die? It would make more sense for that to be the meaning of life, then I might agree. It's still too pessimistic otherwise.

 

[grokit]

 
Death lies in between Cynicism and Democracy, at least alphabetically according to wisdomquotes.com 
 
test edit
 
Some more relevant gems:
 
 
"He who is not busy being born is busy dying.
 
"Your life feels different on you, once you greet death and understand your heart's position.
 
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.
 
"Your life feels different on you, once you greet death and understand your heart's position.
 
"Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.
 
"I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
 
"Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.
 
"After your death you will be what you were before your birth.
 
"Religion is the human response to being alive and having to die."
 
 
I still like the Steve Jobs and Billy Jack quotes the best, the above just expands on that. Jobs was inspired by the Buddha, and Billy Jack by the Paiute (Wakova) Ghost Dance.

 

[LFF]

The answer has been misinterpreted as 42. It should be "For Two".
 
Life only gains meaning when one loves someone or something other than "thyself". Life and it's meaning depends on the capacity and willingness to love. One need not love a woman or a man. One could simply love an idea or a hobby or one could love a multitude of things or people but it should never contain only one for one is the loneliest number. 
 
I have found that cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for anything other than myself automatically puts my mind at ease. I could choose to cuddle with my wife and do things that make her smile. I could choose to buy a friend lunch or I could choose to love and appreciate a piece of music. As the Dali Lama once said, "The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another."
 
That's my take on it...The meaning of life is for two.

 

[tim_j_thomas]

Well said my friend.  Well said!!!
 
Quote:

The answer has been misinterpreted as 42. It should be "For Two".
 
Life only gains meaning when one loves someone or something other than "thyself". Life and it's meaning depends on the capacity and willingness to love. One need not love a woman or a man. One could simply love an idea or a hobby or one could love a multitude of things or people but it should never contain only one for one is the loneliest number. 
 
I have found that cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for anything other than myself automatically puts my mind at ease. I could choose to cuddle with my wife and do things that make her smile. I could choose to buy a friend lunch or I could choose to love and appreciate a piece of music. As the Dali Lama once said, "The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another."
 
That's my take on it...The meaning of life is for two.

 

 

[Pepsi]

Quote:

I'm still unsure exactly what you meant too, Pepsi. Am I supposed to feel insulted or condescended? Or was this praise for my creativity? What is this I don't even.

Sorry for being a bit vague, i completely agreed with your point, so yes i was simply praising you for your creativity. What I was trying to get at with the professor was the things he had to say and my disagreement with a lot of his views. One of his more memorable quotes was about being successful and how the only way to do that was through education, otherwise you'd be deemed a failure. I asked him, so people without degrees would make them less of a person? His answer was, A person who chooses not to make him/herself more knowledgable is wasting the time that they have. 
 
I just left that class feeling angry and confused. My buddy seems to agree with the guy too. What am i missing here?
 
 
 

 

[Magick Man]

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs = failures? :rolleyes:

He's a snob, which is common in that setting, don't let it bother you.