John Tukey Quotes

Connect, create meaning, make a difference, matter, be missed.

There's not much point breaking records if, in the end, it doesn't mean anything.

I want to do something that matters.

I'm just trying to matter and live a good life and make work that means something to somebody.

The worse thing in the world is for an individual to live, breath and exist and leave this earth, die, and not make impact.

My fear was not of death itself, but a death without meaning.

Imagine that your life's efforts serve as a mark of God and that the only way the divine is seen, heard or expressed is through the legacy you leave behind. The yearning to make a difference is your need to express your purpose and derive meaning from your time on earth.

Although it sounds cliche, the main thing I want to do is touch people with what I do. I want everything I do to be meaningful, and I want it to be about more than just myself, or the money.

I think all kinds of meanings in life transcend your self. They're linked to other generations of people around us, to our children and our family. We're passing on something of ourselves to others. I feel that's what makes our life full of meaning.

I want the fact that I existed to mean something.

Whatever is powerful to you can be translated into something which will matter to somebody that you will never know.

If you want to be immortal, do something useful in your lifetime.

Sometimes you can do the work in the moment, and you don't know whether it's going to really have meaning once time has elapsed.

I am only here on this earth for a short period of time, like the rest of the country and citizens, and I want the time that I spend here on earth to matter.

I've impacted peoples' lives in such a way that they'll never forget.

All of us want to know that we are doing great things, that we are touching a lot of people, and that what we are doing is something bigger than ourselves.

At the end of the day, most people just want to be valued. They want to feel they have put their time to something that will seem to have been of value when they die.

Do something that will last and be beautiful. It doesn't have to be a bridge-or a symphony or book or a business. It could be the look in the eye of a child you raise or a simple garden you tend. Do something that will last and be beautiful.

I want to know that I've accomplished something. I want to feel that it had some meaning. At the last summing up, I want to be sure it wasn't all-for nothing.

I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference.

God’s definition of success is really one of significance-the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. The significance doesn’t show up in won-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we lived.

You need to feel that you're making a difference.

The goal of life is not to have our lives mean something to ourselves. The goal of life is to have our lives mean something to others.

If your life lease, your existence was canceled tomorrow, what would you wish you had done? What are the things you would like to impact? Start on those and you can change the world. Maybe you can only make your neighborhood a little bit better, or make someone's life a little bit better. Isn't that the kind of purpose?