David Brooks Quotes

I think essentially the meaning of life is probably the journey and not really any one thing or an outcome or a result.

In the society, where people are just parts in a larger machine, individuals are unable to develop fully.

It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you.

The older I get, the more the lying, the losing touch with your true thoughts and feelings, and the compromises required to fit in seem not worth the effort. It's my one go on Earth; why spend any more of it conforming to other people's rules and ideals?

The greatest tragedy in life is not to die, it is to live as if dead, to let the life within us wither. Toward what goal or achievement are we striving in life? This is the important question to ask ourselves.

Through my art I have tried to explain my life and its meaning. I have also intended to help others to clarify their lives.

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.

Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.

The purpose that you wish to find in life, like a cure you seek, is not going to fall from the sky. ...I believe purpose is something for which one is responsible; it's not just divinely assigned.

The special virtue of freedom is not that it makes you richer and more powerful but that it gives you more time to understand what it means to be alive.

It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for living.

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.

I like to think that death gives life meaning. I like that philosophy.

Love gives life purpose and meaning.

Before my death I hope to obtain my life.

The universe always gives you what you need to grow into the person you are destined to become.

What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it.

After all, what was adult life but one moment of weakness piled on top of another? Most people just fell in line like obedient little children, doing exactly what society expected of them at any given moment, all the while pretending that they’d actually made some sort of choice.

When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.

The purpose of life is to live it.

Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.

Who am I, why am I here? Forget the question, someone give me another beer.

Death is our constant companion, and it is death that gives each person's life its true meaning.

And always remember the ultimate truth: life is not about money, it's about emotion.