To this generation I would say: Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
. . . the weal of the race, and the cause of humanity, here and now, are enough To give life meaning and death as well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life gains significance through our collective well-being and our commitment to humanity.
This quote by Edgar Lee Masters suggests that the purpose of life is intertwined with the welfare of others and the broader human experience. It implies that our actions in the present, aimed at benefiting society, grant both life and death a deeper meaning, emphasizing the importance of community and altruism in understanding existence.
Themes
MeaningHumanityLifePurposeCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about social responsibility, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of serving others.
More from Edgar Lee Masters
All quotes βThe tongue may be an unruly member-- But silence poisons the soul.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
Genius is a bend in the creek where bright water has gathered, and which mirrors the trees, the sky and the banks. It just does that because it is there and the scenery is there. Talent is a fine mirror with a silver frame, with the name of the owner engraved on the back.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
To love is to find your own soul Through the soul of the beloved one.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire-It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
And I never started to plow in my life That some one did not stop in the road And take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddleβ And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, And not a single regret.
Edgar Lee MastersRead
Similar quotes
Now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened.
E. E. CummingsRead
In the conduct of our public worship where is the authority of Christ to be found? The truth is that today the Lord rarely controls a service, and the influence He exerts is very small. We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere; we worship our way, and it must be right because we have always done it that way, as have the other churches in our group.
Aiden Wilson TozerRead
In U.S. discourse, immigrants are mostly represented as less than human, a policy problem, or as just that, a category, and categories are prisons.
Francisco GoldmanRead
I think the only positive thing that came from Uruguay's dictatorship was the spread of Montevideo natives around the world, and I continued writing about them from my various places of exile.
Mario BenedettiRead
We want a world where life is preserved, and the quality of life is enriched for everybody, not only for the privileged.
Isabel AllendeRead
In almost all sciences the fundamental knowledge is either found in earliest times or is still being sought.
Friedrich NietzscheRead