Time is the most precious element of human existence. The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Man has the possibility of existence after death. But possibility is one thing and the realization of the possibility is quite a different thing.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
We don’t exist unless we are deeply and sensually in touch with that which can be touched but not known.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
The existence of a man is so small a thing to take, so mighty a thing to employ.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
It is living and ceasing to live that are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere.
—Andre Breton (1896–1966) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
—Lu Xun (1881–1936) Chinese Writer
Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Hold it the greatest sin to prefer existence to honor, and for the sake of life to lose the reasons for living.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
The ego exists because we go on pedalling desire, because we go on striving to get something, because we go on jumping ahead of ourselves.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Being is the great explainer.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
In order to exist just once in the world, it is necessary never again to exist.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved”. Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.
—Henri Nouwen (1932–96) Dutch Catholic Theologian, Writer
No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and pure and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
Let us be moral. Let us contemplate existence.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
The very impossibility which I find to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
We are all born for love… . It is the principle of existence, and its only end.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
There’s nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.
—Carson McCullers (1917–67) American Novelist
The fact of God is necessary for the fact of man. Think God away and man has no ground of existence.
—A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) American Christian Pastor, Preacher, Author, Editor
In the wild struggle for existance, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We spend our lives talking about this mystery. Our life.
—Jules Renard (1864–1910) French Writer, Diarist
The potentiality of perfection outweighs actual contradictions… Existence in itself is here to prove that it cannot be an evil.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
People who lead a lonely existence always have something on their minds that they are eager to talk about.
—Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) Russian Short-Story Writer
The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
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