--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The monuments, the ideas left behind by…" description: "\"“The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are my greatest pleasure in life. Without books I would long ago have been in despair.”\" — Irvi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/irvin-d-yalom-1519_books_the-monuments-the-ideas-left-behind-by-b_1236623.png" --- # The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are… ![“The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are my greatest pleasure in life. Without books I would long ago have been in despair.” quote by Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/irvin-d-yalom-1519_books_the-monuments-the-ideas-left-behind-by-b_1236623.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/irvin-d-yalom-1519_books_the-monuments-the-ideas-left-behind-by-b_1236623.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/irvin-d-yalom-1519_books_the-monuments-the-ideas-left-behind-by-b_1236623.png) > ““The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are my greatest pleasure in life. Without books I would long ago have been in despair.”” [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Values the lasting impact of ideas and literature as a source of meaning and hope. **In simple terms:** Ideas and books give life purpose. Key Takeaway Seek meaning through reading and ideas. Themes meaning literature legacy Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading - academic study - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism humanism Questions to Reflect On - What ideas shape your purpose? - How do books help you during hardship? A Different Perspective Not everyone finds solace in books alone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Greatest pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-pleasure/) [Greatest Pleasure In Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-pleasure-in-life/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Monuments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monuments/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [America has no monuments to ideas; her monuments are erected to individuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gutzon-borglum/america-has-no-monuments-to-ideas-her-monuments-are-erected-to/) [Gutzon Borglum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gutzon-borglum/) > [The greatest pleasure in life is doing, what others say you cannot do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enggalikhan/the-greatest-pleasure-in-life-is-doing-what-others-say-you-cannot-do/) Enggalikhan > [“The greatest pleasure in life is derived from knowing the little piece of one's self offered to another has helped to make them whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-boudreau/the-greatest-pleasure-in-life-is-derived-from-knowing-the-little/) [Al Boudreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-boudreau/) > [“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you can not do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greatest-pleasure-in-life-is-doing-what-people-say-you-can-not-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One of the greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you can't do!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/starboy95/one-of-the-greatest-pleasure-in-life-is-doing-what-people-say-you-can/) [Starboy95](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/starboy95/) > [The greatest pleasure in life is that of reading while we are young. 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I used to write it in my head all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-tomalin/poetry-was-one-of-the-things-that-interested-me-most-as-i-was-growing/) [Claire Tomalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-tomalin/) > [The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do, and seeing that look on their face when you prove them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greatest-pleasure-in-life-is-doing-what-people-say-you-cannot-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-papini/breathing-is-the-greatest-pleasure-in-life/) [Giovanni Papini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-papini/) ## More by Irvin D. Yalom > [“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/alas-if-all-humans-were-wise-and-had-more-good-will-the-world-would/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Ümitsizlik özfarkındalık uğruna ödenen bedeldir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mitsizlik-zfark-ndal-k-u-runa-denen-bedeldir/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Therapists need to have a long experience in personal therapy to see what it's like to be on the other side of the couch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/therapists-need-to-have-a-long-experience-in-personal-therapy-to-see/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Beginning therapists must learn that there are times to sit in silence, sometimes in silent communion, sometimes simply while waiting for patients' thoughts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/beginning-therapists-must-learn-that-there-are-times-to-sit-in/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [If one is to learn to live with the dead, one must first learn to live with the living!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/if-one-is-to-learn-to-live-with-the-dead-one-must-first-learn-to-live/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/specialness-as-a-primary-mode-of-death-transcendence-takes-a-number/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Exactly. We know that the great Goethe carried a copy of Spinoza’s Ethics in his pocket for a year. Imagine that—an entire year! And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/exactly-we-know-that-the-great-goethe-carried-a-copy-of-spinoza-s/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Hope is the worst of evils because it protracts torment.” “Your”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/hope-is-the-worst-of-evils-because-it-protracts-torment-your/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Mature love is loving, not being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mature-love-is-loving-not-being-loved/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/absolute-power-as-we-have-always-known-corrupts-absolutely-it/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Indeed, the capacity to tolerate uncertainty is a prerequisite for the profession. Though the public may believe that therapists guide patients systematically and sure-handedly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/indeed-the-capacity-to-tolerate-uncertainty-is-a-prerequisite-for-the/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Rollo May quipped that anxiety about nothing tries to become anxiety about something. In other words, anxiety about nothingness quickly attaches itself to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/rollo-may-quipped-that-anxiety-about-nothing-tries-to-become-anxiety/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“I often urge patients to project themselves into the future and to consider how they can live now so that five years hence they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-often-urge-patients-to-project-themselves-into-the-future-and-to/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [When people don't have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/when-people-don-t-have-any-curiosity-about-themselves-that-is-always/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) [Explore all 184 Irvin D. Yalom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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