--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If humanism were right in declaring that…" description: "\"“If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evid..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_born-to-die_if-humanism-were-right-in-declaring-that_1605097.jpg" --- # If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be… ![“If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot the unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain…” quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_born-to-die_if-humanism-were-right-in-declaring-that_1605097.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_born-to-die_if-humanism-were-right-in-declaring-that_1605097.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_born-to-die_if-humanism-were-right-in-declaring-that_1605097.jpg) > ““If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot the unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is imperative to review the table of widespread human values. Its present incorrectness is astounding. It is not possible that assessment of the President's performance be reduced to the question of how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.”” [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human happiness cannot be the sole purpose when mortality is inevitable; a higher spiritual duty and moral growth are essential, beyond material pursuits. **In simple terms:** Life’s finiteness demands spiritual purpose and moral development over material gain. Key Takeaway Prioritize moral growth and spiritual duty. Themes humanism mortality spirituality ethics materialism Mood reflective inspirational serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - education - volunteering - community service - personal reflection Key Concepts Existentialism virtue ethics human flourishing Questions to Reflect On - What spiritual duties guide your life? - How do you balance material needs with moral growth? 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For a person you've taken everything from is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/you-are-strong-only-as-long-as-you-don-t-deprive-people-of-everything/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/woe-to-that-nation-whose-literature-is-cut-short-by-the-intrusion-of/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Literature becomes the living memory of a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/literature-becomes-the-living-memory-of-a-nation/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [If there were no executioners, there would be no executions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/if-there-were-no-executioners-there-would-be-no-executions/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/not-everything-has-a-name-some-things-lead-us-into-a-realm-beyond/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [It is almost always impossible to evaluate at the time events which you have already experienced, and to understand their meaning with the guidance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-is-almost-always-impossible-to-evaluate-at-the-time-events-which/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Human nature is full of riddles; . . . one of those riddles is: how is it that people who have been crushed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-one-of-those-riddles-is-how-is-it/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was astonishing that the pseudo wreckers, who knew perfectly well that they weren't wreckers, believed that military men and priests were being shaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-astonishing-that-the-pseudo-wreckers-who-knew-perfectly-well/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [When the whole discussion of "developing a national idea" hastily began in post-Soviet Russia, I tried to pour cold water on it with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/when-the-whole-discussion-of-developing-a-national-idea-hastily-began/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-granted-me-to-carry-away-from-my-prison-years-on-my-bent-back/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Call no day happy 'til it is done; call no man happy til he is dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/call-no-day-happy-til-it-is-done-call-no-man-happy-til-he-is-dead/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes a person's noblest impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/whenever-the-tissue-of-life-is-woven-of-legalistic-relationships-this/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [The same old caveman feeling-greed, envy, violence, and mutual hate, which along the way assumed respectable pseudonyms like class struggle, racial struggle, mass struggle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/the-same-old-caveman-feeling-greed-envy-violence-and-mutual-hate/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Surrender one hair, and you'll end up beardless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/surrender-one-hair-and-you-ll-end-up-beardless/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) [Explore all 412 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## More Born to die quotes > [Wisdom views with an indifferent eye all finite joys, all blessings born to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/wisdom-views-with-an-indifferent-eye-all-finite-joys-all-blessings/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The best thing for a man to do is to be born and, being born, to die at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-aretino/the-best-thing-for-a-man-to-do-is-to-be-born-and-being-born-to-die-at/) [Pietro Aretino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-aretino/) > [A mass of dust, world's momentary slave, Is man, in state of our old Adam made, Soon born to die, soon flourishing to fade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barnabe-barnes/a-mass-of-dust-world-s-momentary-slave-is-man-in-state-of-our-old/) Barnabe Barnes > [Because the truth is - and we know it - we were born to die without regrets. Regret is the only wound from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/because-the-truth-is-and-we-know-it-we-were-born-to-die-without/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [“What are you worrying about? You are born to die anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saurbh-katyal/what-are-you-worrying-about-you-are-born-to-die-anyway/) [Saurbh Katyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saurbh-katyal/) > [“Every night I used to pray that I’d find my people, and finally I did on the open road. We had nothing to lose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/every-night-i-used-to-pray-that-i-d-find-my-people-and-finally-i-did/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [I we are born to die and we all die to live, then what's the point of living life if it just contradicts?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-we-are-born-to-die-and-we-all-die-to-live-then-what-s-the-point-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Your best enemy is the right person who has willingly born to die for you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/your-best-enemy-is-the-right-person-who-has-willingly-born-to-die-for/) [P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/) > [Long time a child, and still a child, when years Had painted manhood on my cheek, was I; For yet I lived like one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/long-time-a-child-and-still-a-child-when-years-had-painted-manhood-on/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Who are you? Are in touch with all of your darkest fantasies? Have you created a life for yourself, where you can experience them?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/who-are-you-are-in-touch-with-all-of-your-darkest-fantasies-have-you/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [“I'm not afraid of death. We are all born to die. It's the fact that we spend our whole life running from. The inevitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-ghazi/i-m-not-afraid-of-death-we-are-all-born-to-die-it-s-the-fact-that-we/) Mohamed Ghazi > [I seem to be the only person in the world who doesn't mind being pitied. If you love me, pity me. The human state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/i-seem-to-be-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-doesn-t-mind-being/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [We were born to die; we were born to endure, on the way to death, sorrow-sorrow in manifold shapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/we-were-born-to-die-we-were-born-to-endure-on-the-way-to-death-sorrow/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“Why not stop trying to prevent posterity being silent about you? You were born to die, and a silent funeral is less bothersome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/why-not-stop-trying-to-prevent-posterity-being-silent-about-you-you/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [We are born to love as we are born to die, and between the heartbeats of these two great mysteries lies all the tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-farrington/we-are-born-to-love-as-we-are-born-to-die-and-between-the-heartbeats/) [Tim Farrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-farrington/) [Browse all 64 Born to die quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-to-die/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot the unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. 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