life (noun): "the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body"
Though it's hard to argue with Merriam-Webster, we all know that life means something more than the standard dictionary definition—or, at least, we want it to. If you're searching for insights into the meaning of life, or words of inspiration to make your life more meaningful, there's no better source than authors of great works of literature.
From Shakespeare to Alice Walker, from Jane Austen to Saul Bellow, iconic authors have a lot to say about life—its hardships and joys, its lessons and surprises. Below, we've gathered 50+ of the best quotes about the nature and meaning of life from authors of some of the best books ever written.
Quotes to Encourage You When Life Turns Challenging
Every life comes with its share of hardships, disappointments, and detours. When life gets tough, these quotes just might give you the right perspective to push through, rise up, and shine.
1. "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." -,
2. "There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm." -,
3. "Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat." -,
4. "Life is every bit as devious as Death. It too can wear a hooded coat. It too can slip into town, lurk in an alley, or wait in the back of a tavern." -,
5. "Wasn't that the story of her life?... You make the wrong choices, you make mistakes, you disappear for a decade, you marry the wrong man. You get hurt. You lose sight of who you are, or of who you want to be, and then you remember, and if you’re lucky you have sisters or friends who remind you when you forget your best intentions. You come back to yourself, again and again. You try, and fail, and try again." -,
6. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." -,
7. "You endure what is unbearable and you bear it. That is all." -,
8. "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." -,
9. "A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?" -,
10. "Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever." -,
11. "To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." -,
12. "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am." -,
13. "Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" -,
14. "And may the odds be ever in your favor." -,
Quotes to Inspire You to Live Your Life to the Fullest
Life is short. So, why not make the most of it? These quotes provide the inspiration.
15. "Anything worth dying for is certainly worth living for." -,
16. "It is nothing to die; it is dreadful not to live." -,
17. "Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living." -,
18. "A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it." -,
19. "It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." -,
20. "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." -,
21. "Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever." -,
22. "Get busy living or get busy dying." -, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,"
23. "We always think there’s enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if.'" -,
24. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." -,
25. "Time moves slowly, but passes quickly." -,
26. "I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it." -,
27. "This was not a tragedy. Dying on your couch watching TV by yourself is a tragedy. Dying while doing something you love with every part of your body is magic." -,
28. "Too much sanity may be madness—and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!" -,
29. "Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself." -,
31. "Your life belongs to you and you alone." -,
32. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." -,
33. "You cannot find peace by avoiding life." -,
34. "It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how." -,
35. "Oh, the places you’ll go! You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights." -,
Quotes About the Life in All Its Complications
Life is often messy and sometimes hard, routinely boring and occasionally truly wonderful. The following quotes reflect the complicated nature of life and why we cherish it.
36. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." -,
37. "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts." -,
38. "She hadn't realized how long it takes to become somebody else, or how lonely it can be living in a world not meant for you." -,
39. "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." -,
40. "Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading." -,
41. "We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories." -,
42. "Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings." -,
43. "The longer I live, the more uninformed I feel. Only the young have an explanation for everything." -,
44. "The same substance composes us—the tree overhead, the stone beneath us, the bird, the beast, the star—we are all one, all moving to the same end." -,
45. "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." -,
46. "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." -,
47. "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand." -,
48. "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" -,
49. "All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust." -,
50. "The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42." -,
51. "Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is." -,