John W. Gardner

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account. John W. Gardner

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13 Comments

  1. beautifully said.
    thank you for sharing, as always.

  2. Most appropriate message especially in such difficult times for so many of us. Thank you for sharing.

  3. Hi Jane, I’m from Singapore.
    I love this! Gonna quote this in my blog as well! You are one actress I respect alot! Take care!

  4. Neaning comes from gives. Giving your trust to someone else is the best gift you can gift. Similarly recieving trust of someone else is also the best present one can receive

  5. Thanks, Jane. I always enjoy your posts!

    christine

  6. great quote. missed you a lot. hope all is well.

  7. It is true what he says Gardner. A hero of my country said “swim but must expect of ourselves.” It is up to us to combine the ingredients for a decent life. Glad you’ve taken up the communication. You’ll be surprised these days. From Uruguay with love.

  8. hello Jane I wonder what experience you have had that would bring this comment out from you. *Josh Billings said, ‘It is not only the most difficult thing to know oneself, but the most inconvenient one, too.’ *Josh Billings was the pen name of humorist born Henry Wheeler Shaw. Meaning of life: love gives meaning to our lives – as do friendship or art or faith in God. But there is the cruelty of life, the pain, the evil. the loss and loneliness, and hope one will find only in a dream.

    We are such stuff
    As dreams are made on, and our little life
    Is rounded with a sleep…
    William Shakespeare,

  9. I like this passage a lot.
    Here’s my translation.
    When you grow (learn) from your experiences (good and bad), your life has meaning. Failure to grow is failure to truly live or to have a meaninful life.
    Thanks for posting. This reminds me to keep putting the ingredients together for a meaningful life.

  10. What is life without Meaning?
    Its what life is all about to me.
    I would feel so empty otherwise.
    My heart is full everyday and my foundation stronger
    with the meaning of this beautiful life experience.
    One needs meaning and a strong foundation to weather the storms and relish the smooth sailing.

    You’re a strong beacon of light in the world Jane.
    Thanks for sharing and shining your enlightenments.
    Namaste,
    earthkeepa

  11. So true and such a wonderful!

  12. Albert Camus, seeing that life is absurd, says that we make meaning and purpose by our own choices. Gardner is right that the raw material for this is our life itself.

    Thank you for your gifts.

  13. I read this quote several years ago..
    it so beautifully captures the process we each adopt to make our Life worth a living

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