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Life

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“If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.”
Albert Camus (1913–1960) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Summer in Algiers", The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays (1955)
“The whole historic existence of mankind is nothing else than the gradual transition from the personal, animal conception of life to the social conception of life, and from the social conception of life to the divine conception of life.”
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's not necessarily based in religion. I think there's a life there, therefore the notion of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle (January 23, 2001)
“We may say that religion, as distinguished from modern paganism, implies a life in conformity with nature. It may be observed that the natural life and the supernatural life have a conformity to each other which neither has with the mechanistic life.”
T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man's life of any worth is a continual allegory — and very few eyes can see the mystery of life — a life like the Scriptures, figurative... Lord Byron cuts a figure, but he is not figurative. Shakespeare led a life of allegory: his works are the comments on it.”
John Keats (1795–1821) first seen 1819 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To George and Georgiana Keats (14 February – 3 May 1819)
“Death makes no sense except to people who have passionately loved life. How can one die without having something to part from? Detachment is a negation of both life and death. Whoever has overcome his fear of death has also triumphed over life. For life is nothing but another word for this fear.”
Emil Cioran (1911–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are speaking of life, because whenever we speak of universities, we speak of life. What are you? If I were asked that question right now, I would have to say that you are life, you are symbols of life.”
Fidel Castro (1926–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His life from the very beginning is a story of temptation; it is not only one particular period in his life, the forty days, that is the story of temptation – no his whole life is a story of temptation (just as it is also of suffering). Every moment of his life he is tempted – that is, he has this possibility in his power, to take his calling, his task, in vain.”
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can go through your whole life telling yourself that life is logical, life is prosaic, life is sane. Above all, sane. And I think it is. I've had a lot of time to think about that.”
Stephen King (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is complex in its expression, involving more than percipience, namely desire, emotion, will, and feeling. ... identification of rhythm as the causal counterpart of life; wherever there is some life, only perceptible to us when the analogies are sufficiently close ... The rhythm is then the life, in the sense in which it can be said to be included within nature.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is that which can hold a purpose for three thousand years and never yield. The individual fails, but life succeeds. The individual is foolish, but life holds in its blood and seed the wisdom of generations. The individual dies, but life, tireless and undiscourageble, goes on, wondering, longing, planning, trying, mounting, longing.”
Will Durant (1885–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That's the way it works in movies," said Suzanne. "Something happens that has an impact on someone's life, and based on that impact, his life shifts course. Well, that's not how it happens in life. Something has an impact on you, and then your life stays the same, and you think, 'Well, what about the impact?' You have epiphanies all the time. They just don't have any effect.”
Carrie Fisher (1956–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[W]hat alone has value is the use to which life is put and the end to which it is directed. The value of life has to be created by man, it cannot be obtained through luck but only through wisdom. He who is anxiously concerned over losing his life will never enjoy life.”
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) said by 1804 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kant, Immanuel (1996), pages 141
“Life's like a mayonnaise soda And life's like space without room And life's like bacon and ice cream That's what life's like without you”
Lou Reed (1942–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is agid. Life is fulgid. Life is a burgeoning, a quickening of the dim primordial urge in the murky wastes of time. Life is what the least of us make most of us feel the least of us make the most of.”
Willard van Orman Quine (1908–2000) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quine's response in 1988 when asked his philosophy of life. (He invented the word "agid".) It makes up the entire Chapter 54 in Quine in Dialogue (2008).
“Life lived in the absence of the psychedelic experience that primordial shamanism is based on is life trivialized, life denied, life enslaved to the ego.”
Terence McKenna (1946–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Chased the good life my whole life long Look back on my life, and my life gone Where did I go wrong? And my head keeps spinning Can't stop having these visions I gotta get with it.”
Kanye West (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are some things in life that make you happy, and make you like your life. Then there are some things in life that you witness, that make you not like your life as much. I think that's one of them. I'm sorry, Juan.”
Patrick Stump (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gather every promise. This is Jesus, the life of every grace, the life of every promise, the life of every ordinance, the life of every blessing.”
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Earth gives us life, not the American government. The earth gives us life, not the multi-national corporate government. The Earth gives us life. We need to have the Earth. We must have it, otherwise our life will be no more. So we must resist what they do.”
John Trudell (1946–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The philosopher] is ultimately compelled to transcend not merely the dimensions of common opinion, of political opinion, but the dimension of political life as such; for he is left to realize that the ultimate aim of political life cannot be reached by political life, but only by a life devoted to contemplation, to philosophy.”
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art is no isolated, unconnected, or inexplicable phenomenon. It draws its life from the life of the universe, and with the universe it ascends from epoch to epoch towards the Almighty. It owes its power over the souls of men to that collective life — even as the trees and plants draw their life from earth, the common mother; and its power would be destroyed should it attempt to forsake its source.”
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Life and Writings of Joseph Mazzini (1864 translation), Preface (1861) Vol. II, p. viii
“Loyalty to life, according to Nietzsche, begins in the resolve to seek life’s principle within itself and not in something outside it—not, for example, in a God or supernature that, by being conceived as all that life is not—infinite, eternal, changeless, perfect goodness, perfect plenitude—stands as antithetical to life.”
David L. Norton (1930–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[AL] views life as a property of the organization of matter, rather than a property of the matter which is so organized. Whereas biology has largely concerned itself with the material basis of life, Artificial Life is concerned with the formal basis of life.”
Christopher Langton (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Personally I think the only meaning your life will ever have is whatever your involvement means to someone else. The best strategy I think, if you want your life to mean something, try making someone else’s life meaningful. But if you want your life to mean something five billion years from now, it won’t –no matter what. Sorry. But what matters now still matters now.”
Aron Ra (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We lack any sort of device that can... detect life. We don't have a life meter. ...We don't have a general purpose life meter that can detect life as we don't know it.”
Paul Davies (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, the Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does the Westerner. Life is plentiful, life is cheap in the Orient. And, as the philosophy of the Orient expresses it - life is - is not important.”
William Westmoreland (1914–2005) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in the documentary film Hearts and Minds, 1974
“Indeed, Judaism as a way of life, seeks to inculcate in us a consciousness of the Divine Presence in the World and respect for life accordingly. The more we care for life, the closer we are in fact to God. Accordingly, an ethical vegetarian way of life expresses the most noble and sublime values and aspirations of Judaism itself, bringing us closer to its vision for society as a whole.”
David Rosen (rabbi) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've always loved life. Those who love life can never adapt, undergo, be commanded. Who loves life is always with the rifle at the window to defend life ... A human being who adapts, who suffers, who makes himself commanded, is not a human being.”
Smita Nair Jain (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is Buddhism? Buddhism is not that the Buddha demands obeisance, demands blind faith, demands your belief, and then the Buddha gives you blessings. That's not Buddhism. A Buddhist is an investigator. An investigator of what? Of life. A researcher of life. A Buddhist wants to know more about life so that he can practice and improve on his life.”
Guan Cheng (born 1947) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dharma talk (2011)
“We are committed as followers of Jesus to respect life, for the whole of life. That’s what it means to be pro-life. It means that, when seeking the common good, we help expectant mothers and their babies, support marriages and families and care for the elderly who have given so much to us. We reverence life and the dignity of each person from birth to a natural death.”
Austin Vetter (born 1967) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Unborn Children are Threatened by Plans to Remove the Hyde Amendment (June 2021)
“We are a society of apostolic life, so there’s going to be a common life … there must be fraternal life. If there’s no fraternal life, priests become extremely susceptible to the wiles and snares of the devil.”
Antony Sumich (born 1964) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Traditionalist order sees chance to come to NZ (May 12, 2016)
“We need to look for deepest symptoms of the crisis of Christian marriage and the family in the weakening of the life of faith. This fragility comes after a gradual loss of the Christian understanding of life, in this case of conjugal and family life, caused by multiple factors, including a certain inconsistency in Christian formation, and as a consequence, the scarce practice of the life of faith.”
Andrés Stanovnik (born 1949) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Argentine bishop: weak faith life has caused marriage crisis (29 August 2013)
“OK, boys, you heard the man. Get out of here. Come back, though, I've got lots more stuff. And you never know, maybe we can work together one day. Just because I'm in here for life doesn't mean I won't be out one day. Life doesn't really mean life. It's just a figure of speech. It means an eternity which is actually shorter than life, if you know what I mean.”
Steve Toltz (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the majority of births on Earth, I think, it's a joy, this new life. It's a mission that each human has — protecting life, giving life, continuing life.”
Agnes Binagwaho (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Agnes Binagwaho| career passion (28 October 2017)
“Life has treated me robustly. Life is a challenge. Life always leaves you in the eye of the storm. But I was lucky that I was able to rise above the storm. Yes. I have had my storm. It has been turbulent. I have been through the fire. I have been through the furnace. It has not been a quiet sort of life but it has been exciting”
Taiwo Ajai-Lycett (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It has always been my vision to be scandal free, keeping my private life away from my public life. Appreciate me for my movies and what you see on screen, but my life is my life. I treasure that and I just want to keep it that way.”
Belinda Effah (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is Military [in the words of the Roman statesman Seneca]. Life is victory, life is defeat. Life is struggle.”
Christopher Ross (sculptor) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview by Cathy Newman, Author, National Geographic fashion, Published by The National Geographic Society. p. 107. (2001) ISBN 978-1931948609
“At times, life chases me in haste, sometimes, I'm the one to chase my life. at times, life flees from my reach, and sometimes I try to escape from the grasp of my life.”
Sanu Sharma wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Religious life appears to be extremely peaceful; but peace does not hold much interest for young people. In fact, young people could not care less about a peaceful life; it is only people who are castrated who want peace. Healthy young people want a more vigorous life; they want a life in which they can stretch their arms, their legs, their desires as far as they will go.”
Kaneko Fumiko (1903–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe life is a gift. Not abundant life, just life. Just complex, ungovernable, turbulent, and wild life.”
Jacques Cameron (born 1987) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In an interview with IMDb. "Jacques Cameron". IMDb. February 1, 2024.
“Western civilization considers human life to be sacred, but Hindus have gone much further and said that not only human life but all life is sacred. Therefore all life forms, not just human beings, must be revered and respected. This is the reason for being vegetarian, which is ecological in the deepest sense.”
Ranchor Prime (born 1950) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted and attributed in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents and time about India and her culture
“Buddhists try to escape from their life, while Christians attach greater importance to their life in heaven than to that on earth. As for believers of Tenrikyo, however, the greatest emphasis is always put on this life on earth. Neither life nor death can exist independently of God the Parent.”
Fukaya Tadamasa (1912–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes sickness is good, it reshapes your life. Sometimes poverty is good, it helps your life. Sometimes failure makes you to reorder your life. It is not the end of your life.”
Ayo Fayose (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I approach life holistically. Everything I described above applies to all of life. I optimize for thriving in life (not just work). I optimize for being happy in life (not just at work). The proportion of time I spend on work has varied (non-monotonically) over the years. At each point though, it was what it was because it made me happy.”
Devi Parikh wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What I’m doing is life. You need to sustain life. Maybe from that comes a deeper and more enlightened perception of what is needed to sustain life, and the role of the environment in the sustenance of life.”
Gina Lopez (1953–2019) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/the-rise-and-fall-of-regina-lopez-the-philippines-maverick-environment-minister/
“The Church feels the need to courageously give voice to those without one. Respect, protect, love and serve every human life. This requires celebrating the Gospel of life and this must be done in everyday life, lived in love for others and in the giving of oneself. Strive for the promotion of a culture of life.”
Luciano Maza Huamán (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Church must give voice to those without one”; celebration of unborn life (1 December 2010) Fides News Agency
“One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head that only I can hear.”
Maurice Jarre (misattributed) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This quote was actually crafted by University College Dublin student Shane Fitzgerald. Shortly after Jarre's death, Fitzgerald uploaded the false quote to Wikipedia to test "how our globalised, increasingly internet-dep…
“But that is not how life teaches you, and I would say that life is the best teacher of all. Most of the time, life does not talk to you. It just sort of pushes you around. Each push is life saying, ‘Wake up. There’s something I want you to learn.’”
Robert Kiyosaki (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source