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.
An act cannot be defined by the end sought by the actor, for an identical system of behaviour may be adjustable to too many different ends without altering its nature.
One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it.
There is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves.
Ownership is not limited to material things. It can also apply to points of view. Once we take ownership of an idea - whether itβs about politics or sports - what do we do? We love it perhaps more than we should. We prize it more than it is worth. And most frequently, we have trouble letting go of it because we canβt stand the idea of its loss. What are we left with then? An ideology - rigid and unyielding.
I do think the patriotic thing to do is to critique my country. How else do you make a country better but by pointing out its flaws?
What delights, what pleasures does your life offer you that outweigh the raptures of death?
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