Human Existence Quotes

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  The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Lying, Alive, Criminal Mind

  Fyodor Dostoevsky (2011). “The Brothers Karamazov”, p.440, Bantam Classics

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• Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.

  Erich Fromm

  Life, Animal, Men

  Erich Fromm (2013). “Man for Himself: An Inquiry Into the Psychology of Ethics”, p.40, Routledge

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• Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; knowledge without compassion is inhuman.

  Victor Frederick Weisskopf

  Compassion, Two, Pillars

  Victor Frederick Weisskopf, V. Stefan (1998). “Physics and Society: Essays in Honor of Victor Frederick Weisskopf by the International Community of Physicists”, Springer Science & Business Media

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• The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separateness.

  Albert Einstein

  Tragedy, Illusion, Existence

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• Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Life, Happiness

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• As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.

  Carl Jung

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Memories, Dreams, Reflections ch. 11 (1962)

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• Curiosity is the essence of human existence.

  Gene Cernan

  Essence, Curiosity, Existence

  "Last Man on the Moon recalls US era of courage to do the impossible" by Henry Barnes, www.theguardian.com. June 08, 2014.

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• Time is the most precious element of human existence.

  Denis Waitley

  Precious Stones, Elements, Time Management

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• The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Spiritual, War

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.131, Vintage

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• Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.

  Erich Fromm

  Love, Life, Philosophical

  Erich Fromm (2013). “The Art of Loving”, Open Road Media

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• Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.

  B. R. Ambedkar

  Mind, Should, Existence

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• There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee.

  William Shakespeare

  Honesty, Fellowship, Thee

  William Shakespeare (1833). “The plays and poems of William Shakspeare”, p.363

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• The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.

  Thomas Wolfe

  Loneliness, Solitary Life, Facts

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• The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself.

  William Blake

  Imagination, States, Existence

  William Blake (2008). “The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake”, p.132, Univ of California Press

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• All human existence is a trick of light.

  Don DeLillo

  Light, Tricks, Existence

  Don DeLillo (2011). “The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories”, p.195, Simon and Schuster

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• I surrender it to God, knowing that the pain itself is a product or a reflection of how I am interpreting whatever it is that is causing me pain. Some pain is simply the normal grief of human existence. That is pain that I try to make room for. I honor my grief. I try to be kinder to myself. I give myself time to move through and to process whatever is making me sad.

  Marianne Williamson

  Pain, Grief, Moving

  "A Conversation with Marianne Williamson: Powerful pioneer in new thought and spirituality". Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

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• Curiosity is the essence of human existence and exploration has been part of humankind for a long time. The exploration of space, like the exploration of life, if you will, is a risk. We've got to be willing to take it.

  Gene Cernan

  Essence, Space, Long

  "Is the shuttle worth it?" by Richard Stenger, www.cnn.com. February 5, 2003.

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• My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  "The Private Albert Einstein". Book by Peter A. Bucky, 1992.

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• Only to the extent that someone is living out this self transcendence of human existence, is he truly human or does he become his true self. He becomes so, not by concerning himself with his self's actualization, but by forgetting himself and giving himself, overlooking himself and focusing outward.

  Viktor E. Frankl

  Life, Self, Giving

  Viktor E. Frankl (2011). “The Unheard Cry for Meaning: Psychotherapy and Humanism”, p.36, Simon and Schuster

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• One of the many reasons for the bewildering and tragic character of human existence is the fact that social organization is at once necessary and fatal. Men are forever creating such organizations for their own convenience and forever finding themselves the victims of their home-made monsters.

  Aldous Huxley

  Character, Home, Men

  Aldous Huxley (2002). “Complete Essays: 1939-1956”, Ivan R Dee

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• Love turns man into an ocean of happiness, an image of peace, a temple of wisdom. Love is every man's very Self, his true beauty, and the glory of his human existence.

  Swami Muktananda

  Inspirational, Ocean, Love Is

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• School days, I believe, are the unhappiest in the whole span of human existence.

  H. L. Mencken

  Education, Believe, Learning

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.308, Vintage

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• Time is the most precious element of human existence. The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time.

  Denis Waitley

  Success, Time, Precious Stones

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• The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and to a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.

  Tom Wolfe

  Life, Loneliness, Being Alone

  "The American Mercury", p. 467, "The Anatomy of Loneliness", October 1941.

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• The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.

  Dallas Willard

  Christian, Jesus, Live Life

  Dallas Willard (2009). “The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship”, p.11, Harper Collins

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