We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
Interpretation
Life's ultimate meaning may relate to our mortality, but our use of language defines our existence.
Toni Morrison's quote delves into the essence of human existence by juxtaposing the inevitability of death with the significance of language. While the knowledge of our mortality may prompt us to seek a deeper understanding of life's meaning, it is through our ability to communicate, express, and engage with one another that we truly measure the richness and impact of our lives.
In practice
Using this quote during a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of communication.
There is a certain kind of peace that is not merely the absence of war. It is larger than that. The peace I am thinking of is not at the mercy of history's rule, nor is it a passive surrender to the status quo. The peace I am thinking of is the dance of an open mind when it engages another equally open one -- an activity that occurs most naturally, most often in the reading/writing world we live in. Accessible as it is, this particular kind of peace warrants vigilance.
You looking good." "Devil's confusion. He lets me look good long as I feel bad.
What do you say? There really are no words for that. There really aren't. Somebody tries to say, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.' People say that to me. There's no language for it. Sorry doesn't do it. I think you should just hug people and mop their floor or something.
An innocent man is a sin before God. Inhuman and therefore untrustworthy. No man should live without absorbing the sins of his kind, the foul air of his innocence, even if it did wilt rows of angel trumpets and cause them to fall from their vines.
Like friendship, hatred needed more than physical intimacy; it wanted creativity and hard work to sustain itself
One of my kids was born in 1968. There were going to be political difficulties, but they were never going to have that level of hatred and contempt that my brothers and my sister and myself were exposed to.
The acknowledged legislators of the world take the world as given. They dislike mysteries, for mysteries cannot be coded, or legislated, and wonder cannot be made into law. And so these legislators police the accepted frontiers of things.
In the name of certainty, the greatest crimes have been committed against humanity.
The good traveler has the gift of surprise.
Social media has emboldened an army of online Islamophobes; in the real world, mosques have been firebombed and politicians line up to condemn Muslim terrorism/clothing/meat/seating arrangements.
All that hullabaloo about somebody's net worth is just stupid, and it's made my life a lot more complex and difficult.
If you have indeed been so highly distinguished, should you not βlive no longer to yourselves, but altogether unto Him who died for you and rose again?β Should any thing short of absolute perfection satisfy you? Should you not labour to βstand perfect and complete in all the will of God?β
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.