New PN: On the Meaning of Life
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by Will Durant |
“To have a great purpose to work for, a purpose larger than ourselves, is one of the secrets of making life significant; for then the meaning and worth of the individual overflow his personal borders, and survive his death."WILL DURANT |
FROM THE BOOK“In the Fall of 1930 Will Durant found himself outside his home in Lake Hill, New York, raking leaves.
It was typical weather for the time of year and the cold refreshing air blowing in from upstate had infused him with a sense of invigoration as he went about the task. As Durant continued his raking, he was approached by a well-dressed man who told him in a quiet tone that he was going to kill himself unless the philosopher could give him a valid reason not to. Not having the time to wax philosophic on the matter, Durant did his best to furnish the man with reasons to continue his existence. As Durant would later recall: I bade him get a job—but he had one; to eat a good meal—but he was not hungry; he left visibly unmoved by my arguments. I do not know what happened to him. In that same year I received several letters announcing suicide; I learned later that there had been 284,142 suicides in the United States between 1905 and 1930. What a dilemma—and what a statistic! And more recent statistics are even more alarming: The World Health Organization estimated that in the year 2000 alone, one million people took their own lives; in the United States, an average of 84.4 people per day commit suicide, resulting in 30,903 self-inflicted deaths per year. Every 17.1 minutes, one person gives up hope and ends their life. Is it any wonder, then, — and can there be a more important question? — that ‘What is the meaning of life?’ is the perennial question of philosophy?” |
Brian's Notes
That’s from the introduction to the book.
Just typing those statistics was heartbreaking. (Gah.)
Imagine having someone come up to YOU the next time you are raking the leaves and telling you that they will end their life unless you give them a reason to continue to live... What would you say?
Will Durant was a 45-year-old, renowned philosopher-historian when he was asked that question. He wasn’t satisfied with his answer. So, you know what he did?
He wrote a letter and sent it to ONE HUNDRED of the most respected men and women in the world—from H.L. Mencken and Mohandas K. Gandhi to Will Rogers and Mary Emma Woolley asking them the ultimate question: What is the meaning of life?
More specifically, he challenged “them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life’s meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives.”
This book is a collection of their responses to his letter and Durant’s commentary on those responses. (Get a copy here.)
As you’d expect, it’s packed with Big Ideas. As always, I’m excited to share some of my favorites and help you apply that wisdom to your life TODAY.
P.S. As per our last Note on Will Durant’s Heroes of History, for some strange reason, it took me decades to read one of his books. Once I did, I fell in love with him and his wisdom.
Following Joseph Campbell’s wisdom to read everything an author “who grabs you!” has written, I read five of his books in a week. We’ll be featuring them in our next several Notes: The Lessons of History, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time, and Fallen Leaves.
P.P.S. As a guy who contemplated taking my own life decades ago when I was in my early twenties (bless that version of me who had *none* of the wisdom I strive to share in these Notes!) I know what it feels like to feel the catastrophic despair of living a life without a sense of purpose and hope that I could ever create a life of meaning.
I also know what it feels like to have a sustainable level of joy and meaning AND I have a pretty good sense of what I did to go from *there* to *here.*
Sharing that wisdom with you and any loved ones you have who may be experiencing despair is a (very!) big reason I work as hard as I do. Check out my Conquering Depression 101 class AND my collection of Notes in that Quest to help you conquer depression.
I would like to ESPECIALLY encourage you to check out my Notes on Georgia Ede’s Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. Dr. Ede is one of the world’s leading nutritional psychiatrists. If I had a loved one suffering with depression, I would START with their nutrition— remembering that our PHYSIOLOGY drives a lot more of our *psychology* than modern therapeutic approaches currently recognize.
Of course, I’d also focus on movement and sleep while helping them see a Future Self that inspires them. (I’d also encourage them read my Notes on Ben Hardy’s Be Your Future Self Now, and Marsha Linehan’s Building a Life Worth Living.)
With that... Sending tons of love to you and your loved ones. Let’s get to work.
Just typing those statistics was heartbreaking. (Gah.)
Imagine having someone come up to YOU the next time you are raking the leaves and telling you that they will end their life unless you give them a reason to continue to live... What would you say?
Will Durant was a 45-year-old, renowned philosopher-historian when he was asked that question. He wasn’t satisfied with his answer. So, you know what he did?
He wrote a letter and sent it to ONE HUNDRED of the most respected men and women in the world—from H.L. Mencken and Mohandas K. Gandhi to Will Rogers and Mary Emma Woolley asking them the ultimate question: What is the meaning of life?
More specifically, he challenged “them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life’s meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives.”
This book is a collection of their responses to his letter and Durant’s commentary on those responses. (Get a copy here.)
As you’d expect, it’s packed with Big Ideas. As always, I’m excited to share some of my favorites and help you apply that wisdom to your life TODAY.
P.S. As per our last Note on Will Durant’s Heroes of History, for some strange reason, it took me decades to read one of his books. Once I did, I fell in love with him and his wisdom.
Following Joseph Campbell’s wisdom to read everything an author “who grabs you!” has written, I read five of his books in a week. We’ll be featuring them in our next several Notes: The Lessons of History, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time, and Fallen Leaves.
P.P.S. As a guy who contemplated taking my own life decades ago when I was in my early twenties (bless that version of me who had *none* of the wisdom I strive to share in these Notes!) I know what it feels like to feel the catastrophic despair of living a life without a sense of purpose and hope that I could ever create a life of meaning.
I also know what it feels like to have a sustainable level of joy and meaning AND I have a pretty good sense of what I did to go from *there* to *here.*
Sharing that wisdom with you and any loved ones you have who may be experiencing despair is a (very!) big reason I work as hard as I do. Check out my Conquering Depression 101 class AND my collection of Notes in that Quest to help you conquer depression.
I would like to ESPECIALLY encourage you to check out my Notes on Georgia Ede’s Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. Dr. Ede is one of the world’s leading nutritional psychiatrists. If I had a loved one suffering with depression, I would START with their nutrition— remembering that our PHYSIOLOGY drives a lot more of our *psychology* than modern therapeutic approaches currently recognize.
Of course, I’d also focus on movement and sleep while helping them see a Future Self that inspires them. (I’d also encourage them read my Notes on Ben Hardy’s Be Your Future Self Now, and Marsha Linehan’s Building a Life Worth Living.)
With that... Sending tons of love to you and your loved ones. Let’s get to work.
Big Ideas
01: THE LETTER
02: H.L. MENCKEN
03: STEFANSSON
04: GANDHI
05: DURANT
“No one deserves to believe unless he has served an apprenticeship to doubt."WILL DURANT |
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