“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” Oscar Wilde
I'm wondering about the context of these words. Where is this quote from? Was this penned earlier or later in Oscar Wilde's life. Where did these "words to live by" take Mr. Wilde. I like many of the quotes attributed to him ... Was he satisfied by the life he chose to live? I wonder. Next year I think I will revisit some of his work. (Also, the quote I posted by Ayn Rand ... Good words. Boy did I struggle to read The Fountainhead, no it was Atlas Shrugged. I didn't enjoy reading the book, though I chose it for myself ... Christmas Break reading when I was twenty. I'm thinking to peruse it again this year as well, but that is off topic.)
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~ Howard Thurman
Same sort of injunction. Is this simply hedonistic? Or ... is it a worth a shot ... are these words to live by? I'm leaning towards ... No.
Did I say I enjoyed the movie In Time? It has an excellent visual demonstration of time as a commodity. Time is spent. Time flows without opportunities for many do overs. I will trade today for what ever it is I might leave here. And ... these quotes call us to live "alive", but I wonder if in retrospect "alive" would be a life well lived.
One life. Rather, one lifetime, perhaps many lives. I am certain that I would not want to enjoy "living large" at someone else's expense. And, I'm pretty sure that Rick Warren got it right when he wrote "it's not about you". I'm sure I can't chase "alive" at any cost. I'm equally certain that "alive" is worth thinking about. Maybe it boils down to a season for this and a season for that. I do not feel that my life has some "great purpose ... some destiny to fulfill" I may even secretly believe that "great lives" are largely great PR jobs.
I know of lives with great moments in them, but I wouldn't feel comfortable saying those persons would say they lived to feel alive.
My alive can not be bought by sucking the life from another. That much I am certain of. Recently, I have read that one of our primary needs in life is to feel loved. I don't think that is true. I don't think it is a basic motivator ... I don't think feeling loved is what makes us feel alive. I've been thinking about love these past few months and one conclusion I've reached is ... I think/feel that love is tremendously important to God and also that God is capable of knowing and loving the whole me. No one can see the "whole me" except God. If I am loved by a person it can only be a partial and idealized me. How can someone think being loved by a person makes them feel "alive". I really don't get it.
"Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life." ~ Elie Wiesel
2 comments:
Reminds me of a quote in a movie that escapes me at the moment. "Daddy always said most people are on the world and not in it." I hope you don't mind all my comments!! Dean
“Most people are on the world, not in it - having no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them - undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate” ~ John Muir
Well, that's exactly what am thinking about lately ... Separate, rigidly alone, careful not to touch or be touched.
Thanks for the quote ... It's a keeper.
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