Life and death are a never-ending cycle. It’s one of the many things left unexplained, and further analysis often leads to worry. “Why am I here?” “Is my presence on earth important?” “Am I more than what society deems acceptable?”
It’s safe to say that there is nothing more crucial to building self-esteem than understanding one’s purpose. Goals serve as a fundamental driving force for everyday life. We can unleash greater potential when actively working towards something we believe in.
Those that find purpose in life can attest to how brighter the world around us seems as a result. Unfortunately, not everyone can quickly grasp that fundamental drive.
Clearly, defining a path in life can be beneficial in many ways. It serves as a point of focus when the going gets tough, and it seems like there’s no end in sight.
That drive can be a source of energy when you’re feeling spent. It can help you get up in the morning, face the long day, and keep you hopeful that the next will be better.
A person fueled by purpose ends up achieving a lot more than one without. A sense of purpose helps one make better decisions that may pay off in the long run. This is because that fundamental drive enables you to focus on building long-term goals and thinking about how each action and decision will affect your master plan.
We are constantly faced with decisions that can help but are detrimental when it comes down to it. Suppose life is a series of interconnected paths, leading to different outcomes. In that case, a sense of purpose can serve as a filter that helps one discern the proper path.
This fundamental drive is not the easiest thing to grasp. Many spend their lives searching for meaning and are unsuccessful in doing so. There are many ways to clearly understand what you were brought into this world to do. You need to realize that you don’t have to do it alone. The world is filled with people running the same race as you.
Purpose Quotes
Existential philosophers and scholars alike have different takes on the meaning of life, but their papers and studies can be a hassle to understand. Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a fine collection of quotes that can help you on your journey of self-discovery.
“The two most important days in life are the day you born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.” – Washington Irving
“The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion.” – Terry Orlick
“To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.” – James Allen
“You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.” – Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
“The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere.” – Michel de Montaigne
“When you find your WHY, you don’t hit snooze no more! You find a way to make it happen!” – Eric Thomas
“The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” – Thomas Carlyle
“The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose.” – Charles Dickens
“By setting and pursuing goals, you have nothing to lose but a lot to gain. It has been scientifically proven that people who set goals are more fulfilled and positive about life. Having a purpose to wake up to each day will challenge us and give us meaning.” – Zoe McKey
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“Figure out what your purpose is in life, what you really and truly want to do with your time and your life; then be willing to sacrifice everything and then some to achieve it. If you are not willing to make the sacrifice, then keep searching.” – Quintina Ragnacci
“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” – Dalai Lama
“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want.” – Oprah Winfrey
“You can have anything you want – if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.” – William Adams
“If you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger―something that matters.” – Blake Mycoskie
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.” – Oscar Wilde
“The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn’t matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.” – Barbara Hall
“Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments.” – Bryant H. McGill
“True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it.” – Pliny the Elder
“It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. … The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” – Margaret Young
“The self is made, not given.” – Barbara Myerhoff
“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua Marine
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going.” – Chantal Sutherland
“Lean forward into your life. Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“It is better to have a meaningful life and make a difference than to merely have a long life.” – Bryant H. McGill
“The cities, the roads, the countryside, the people I meet – they all begin to blur. I tell myself I am searching for something. But more and more, it feels like I am wandering, waiting for something to happen to me, something that will change everything, something that my whole life has been leading up to.” – Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed
“There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Chase your passion, not your pension.” – Denis Waitley
“Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are ultimately to be at peace with themselves. What humans can be, they must be.” – Abraham Maslow
“Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” – W. Clement Stone
“If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily.” – Jack Canfield
“What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.” – Margaret Atwood
“True happiness… is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” – Helen Keller
“Life is difficult. Not just for me or other ALS patients. Life is difficult for everyone. Finding ways to make life meaningful and purposeful and rewarding, doing the activities that you love and spending time with the people that you love – I think that’s the meaning of this human experience.” – Steve Gleason
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman
“Everyone has been made for some particular work and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” – Jalaluddin Rumi
“The secret of success is constancy to purpose.” – Benjamin Disraeli
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” – John F. Kennedy
“Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful.” – Martin Yan
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” – Rumi
“Perhaps the single most important ingredient in all of life for achieving happiness and fulfillment: Purpose.” – Harvey Volson
“I believe purpose is something for which one is responsible; it’s not just divinely assigned.” – Michael J. Fox
“If you have a strong purpose in life, you don’t have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.” – Roy T. Bennett
“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” – Winston S. Churchill
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” – Bishop T.D. Jakes
“Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” – John D. Rockefeller
