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“We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.”
Milan Kundera (1929–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anthropology is an intellectually challenging, theoretically ambitious subject which tries to achieve an understanding of culture, society and humanity through detailed studies of local life, made sense of through comparison and contextualisation. But it is also a form of storytelling about the lives that you and I could have led, but didn’t because we were busy living our own lives.”
Thomas Hylland Eriksen (1962–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I’m going to live, I want to live fully, very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially.”
Ayrton Senna (1960–1994) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview, January 1994
“This is a time when the whole nation is turning toward the outdoor life, seeking in it the physical regeneration so needful for continued national existence — is waking to the fact long known to thoughtful men, that those live longest who live nearest to the ground, that is, who live the simple life of primitive times, divested, however, of the evils that ignorance in those times begot.”
Ernest Thompson Seton (1860–1946) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Birch-Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1907) "Of the Woodcraft Indians
“Was that, then, the way we do things? "Not knowing"— was that the way the most profound things happened? would something always, always have to be apparently dead for the really living to happen? had I had not to know that it was living? Was the secret of never escaping from the greater life the secret of living like a sleepwalker? (p159)”
Clarice Lispector (1920–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the hypothesis of evolution is true, living matter must have arisen from non-living matter; for by the hypothesis the condition of the globe was at one time such, that living matter could not have existed in it, life being entirely incompatible with the gaseous state.”
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) first seen 1876 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ninth edition, (1876) Vol. III, "Biology", p. 689.
“You care enough, that you want your life to be fulfilled in a living way, not in a painting way, not in a writing way...you really do want it to be involving in living, corresponding with other living objects, moving, changing, that kind of thing.”
Edie Sedgwick (1943–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When it's time to die, go ahead and die, and when it's time to live, live. Don't sort-of-maybe live, but live like you're going all out, like you're not afraid.”
Sue Monk Kidd (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where I live is not necessarily in New York City. That's where my apartment is, but I live in Mexico, or I live in Indonesia. I live in Japan. I feel as comfortable in those other cultures, because, in a way, I'm always uncomfortable. I can't explain that, exactly, but I put myself into situations where I'm forced to do something, to create, to respond, to see differently.”
Julie Taymor (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I say live and let live. That's my motto. Live and let live. Anyone who can't go along with that, take him outside and shoot the motherfucker. It's a simple philosophy, but it's always worked in our family.”
George Carlin (1937–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We'll do it live... WE'LL DO IT LIVE! DO IT LIVE... look, I'll write it and we'll do it live! Fucking thing SUCKS!”
Bill O'Reilly (commentator) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember, we live in a culture of immediacy. We live in a culture in which simplistic answers override more complicated answers. We live in a culture in which language is reduced to its bare bones. We live in a culture in which language is now in the service of violence.”
Henry Giroux (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What do you live for?" I ask her suddenly. "Is it for me?Is it for family and love? Or is it for some dream?" "It's not just some dream, Darrow. I live for the dream that my children will be born free. That they will be what they like.That they will own land their father gave them." "I live for you," I say sadly. She kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more.”
Pierce Brown (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Justice is more than equity: it is benevolence. It is not enough to live and let live. We should live and help live. There is as much grace and utility, as genuine moral glory, in the lifelong succor of the helpless by the strong as there is in the temporary chivalry shown by a human being in extricating a fellow from passing misfortune.”
J. Howard Moore (1862–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m waking up this morning Grateful for the gift of one more day The light of hope is dawning It fills my heart and lifts my fears away Sometimes there’s a miracle just beyond the pain When you can see the rainbow in the rainLive on, live on Brighter skies will come again Cry the tears you cry and then live on, live on Love is all we leave when we are gone Live on.”
Olivia Newton-John (1948–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pity him who lives at home Happy with his life, Without a dream, a flexing of wings, To make him relinquish Even the warmest ember of his hearth!Pity him who is happy! He lives because life lasts. Nothing within him whispers More than the primeval law: That life leads to the grave.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that independent India can only discharge her duty towards a groaning world by adopting a simple but ennobled life by developing her thousands of cottages and living at peace with the world. High thinking is inconsistent with complicated material life based on high speed imposed on us by Mammon worship. All the graces of life are possible only when we learn the art of living nobly.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Harijan, (9 January 1946), p. 285
“It is often said that one has but one life to live, but that is nonsense. For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.”
Louis L'Amour (1908–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I remember that history is wide and deep, that there are many other lives being lived around me, and that generations stretch backward and forward from my moment in time. How I live my life right now extends the impact of ancestors and enriches the soil my descendants will plant their own lives in. Thinking this way makes the difficulties of the moment shrink against that grand background.”
Aurora Levins Morales (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“hey always knew that he had a big life traveling before and was always on tour and all of that and that he lives in different countries all the time and loves to live all over the place. So we manage it really well. They love their lives and their routine and schedule. My job as their mom is just to make sure they stick to their routine and that they’re healthy and happy.”
Kim Kardashian (born 1980) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kim Kardashian on Ending Her Marriage: ‘I Had to Save Myself to Be a Better Mom’ ELLE (October 15, 2025).
“I think living well is the key: trying not to build up regrets for the things we didn't do in our lives; to try to live a regret-free life in which we feel satisfied in what we're doing; and to try to be kind to ourselves and not disappointed in ourselves.”
Irvin D. Yalom (born 1931) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Love the battle between chaos and imagination. Remember: Acting is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances. Remember: Acting is the way to live the greatest number of lives. Remember: Acting is the same as real life, lived intentionally. Never forget: The Fruit is out on the end of the limb. Go there.”
Robert Fulghum (born 1937) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Alice-Alice" in Third Wish (2006)
“Love is of source unknown, yet it grows ever deeper. The living may die of it, by its power the dead live again. Love is not love at its fullest if one who lives is unwilling to die for it, or if it cannot restore to life one who has so died. And must the love that comes in dream necessarily be unreal? For there is no lack of dream lovers in this world.”
Tang Xianzu (1550–1616) said by 1616 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In The Peony Pavilion, trans. Cyril Birch (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2002), p. ix
“An important aspect of living life beautifully is being able to continue to live with hope in our lives,”
Judy Dlamini (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where there's life, death is inevitable. Dying's easy; it's living that's hard. The harder it gets, the stronger the will to live. And the greater the fear of death, the greater the struggle to keep on living.”
Mo Yan (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we talk about a safe family, it does not necessarily mean the one that is not living in war or conflict zone. A safe family is the one living a good life, ready to live in harmony and understands better that Rwanda starts from their family.”
Jeannette Kagame (born 1962) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Women’s Day-First Lady calls for safer families(March 2019)
“Our best life is to die well: for living here we enjoy nothing: things past are dead and gone: things present are alwayes ending: things future alwayes beginning: while we live we die; and we leave dying, when we leave living.”
Elizabeth Grimston (died 1603) said by 1603 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You ought to try to make significant contributions to humanity rather than just get along through life comfortably... the life of trying to achieve excellence in some area is in itself a worthy goal... A life without a struggle on your part to make yourself excellent is hardly a life worth living. ...a life without such a goal... is merely existing...”
Richard Hamming (1915–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no way of knowing that your story is not true — but you have no way of knowing that my story isn't true. So I will choose the one that I love. I will close the one that, if it's true, makes this reality one worth living in. I'll act as if the life I hope for is real life, and the life that disgusts me — your life, your view of life — is the lie.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life without literature is a life reduced to penury. It expands you in every way. It illuminates what you’re doing. It shows you possibilities you haven’t thought of. It enables you to live the lives of other people than yourself. It broadens you, it makes you more human. It makes life enjoyable.”
M. H. Abrams (1912–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human life -- ah! life in general -- is poetry. Unconscious of ourselves, we live it -- day by day and piece by piece -- but in its inviolable wholeness it lives, it composes, us. Far from the old phrase: "turn your life into a work of art"; we are not our art work.”
Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Opening epigraph; translation by Frank Beck, 2015
“Laughter is wine for the soul — laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness. Comedy and tragedy step through life together, arm in arm, all along, out along, down along lea. A laugh is a great natural stimulator, a pushful entry into life; and once we can laugh, we can live. It is the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.”
Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Green Crow (1956) p. 226
“To live life well is to express life poorly; if one expresses life too well, one is living it no longer.”
Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maybe I have been on the road too long, Living my life through these songs. I guess loving a music man Really wasn't in your plans. Does it matter if I'm sorry again? And why should I apologize> You knew all along this was my life. You know my ins and outs, All my fears and doubts. It's the life I love, But it's you I can't live without.”
Kid Rock (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My life may look rosy on social media but I am really not living the life of freedom. I have a calendar that I am obligated to follow accordingly and this has really deprived me of the freedom to live life the way I want”
Mercy Eke (born 1993) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/11/im-tired-of-fame-i-need-my-old-life-back-mercy-eke/amp/
“As human beings, we have to learn; we have to become knowledgeable enough to be able to accomplish that continuum of life, and also to make life natural. When we can’t do that, we are not learning; we are not knowledgeable; we are parasites on the earth and we destroy life rather than create life, work with life, embrace life, and uphold life.”
Jeannette Armstrong (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've never been passionate about acting, and I find more and more that I work to live the life I want to live. An actor like Al Pacino lives to act. I'm not sure though, there's something about the detachment I have, the feeling of the lack of importance about what I do, that is healthy.”
Jeremy Irons (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am life which wants to live admidst of lives that want to live.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Die Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben, C.H.Beck, 2008, p. 111
“Remember that you are never alone, Christ is with you on your journey every day of your lives! He has called you and chosen you to live in the freedom of the children of God. Turn to him in prayer and in love. Ask him to grant you the courage and strength to live in this freedom always. Walk with him who is "the Way, the Truth and the Life"!”
Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Baptismal Vigik with Young Peeple, Address of John Paul II at Longchamp Racecourse on 23 August 1997 during Apostolic Journey of His Holiness John Paul II to Paris on the Occasion of the 12th World Youth Day (August 21-…
“In her opinion, talking to the Taliban about reconciliation is a mistake, “another short-term quick fix that will do nothing to solve the world’s problems.” She advises her daughters not to be afraid of anything in case she doesn’t make it back home one day: “I live this life so that you — my precious girls — will be free to live your lives and to dream all of your dreams.”
Fawzia Koofi (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it's gone. But to surrender what you are, and live without belief - that's more terrible than dying - more terrible than dying young.”
Joan of Arc (1412–1431) said by 1431 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote is often seen as attributed to Joan of Arc. However, the quote is actually a line from a script for the 1946 Broadway play entitled Joan of Lorraine by Maxwell Anderson which later become a movie in 1948 entitled …
“Our life is a hope which is continually converting itself into memory and memory in its turn begets hope. Give us leave to live! The eternity that is like an eternal present, without memory and without hope, is death. Thus do ideas exist in the God-Idea, but not thus do men live in the living God, in the God-Man.”
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Learn to live in harmony with each other and nature. Living a thoroughly loving joyous abundant life is your god given right. Nature is abundant. Live according to the universal law, universal principles such as Brother/Sisterly Love, Universal Peace, Individual Freedom and Prosperity for all.”
James Gilliland (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Living in Israel means that you have the choice. You can live a totally European lifestyle, or you can live a life that is oriented toward the Arab world. Or the third world, if you like.”
Dorit Rabinyan (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For me, religion is not only about rituals, but also about how you live your religion. It is about kindness and charity, living a clean and honest life. I live my religion through my acts, through the way I work with poor people, students, patients, and colleagues”
Edna Adan Ismail (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognize that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable, and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship to the universe.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are not nihilistic towards life - it is life that is nihilistic towards us. It is life that denies us, expels us, and kills us. Do we not want to live intensely and forever? Are we the ones denying life? Is it not life that denies us day by day?”
Julio Cabrera (born 1944) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Devorando Nietzsche: por um niilismo sul-americano (2022), pp. 76-77
“And now because you are His child, live as a child of God; be redeemed from the life of evil, which is false to your nature, into the life of goodness, which is the truth of your being. Scorn all that is mean; hate all that is false; struggle with all that is impure Live the simple, lofty life which befits an heir of immortality.”
Frederick William Robertson (1816–1853) said by 1853 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I accept that you live with remorse every day of your life but I live with tragedy every day of my life. She was a terrific kid. She was a wonderful person and I miss her all the time. I accept your apology. I forgive you. However, I cannot give your release my endorsement. To give that a blessing would be a betrayal of my sister's life.”
Kelsey Grammer (born 1955) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 July 2014
“Women qua women may remain, for the better continuance of life, subject to men; women as human beings demand to live as well as to continue life. To live effectively they must learn to know the world through and through, in order that, while side by side with men, they may fashion life to their common good.”
Jane Ellen Harrison (1850–1928) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Homo Sum." Being a Letter to an Anti-Suffragist from an Anthropologist, 1900, p. 30