--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most of us waste this extraordinary thing…" description: "\"“Most of us waste this extraordinary thing called life. We have lived forty or sixty years, have gone to the office, engaged ourselves in social activi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/krishnamurti-55305_acquiring-knowledge_most-of-us-waste-this-extraordinary-thin_1596010.jpg" --- # Most of us waste this extraordinary thing called life. We… ![“Most of us waste this extraordinary thing called life. We have lived forty or sixty years, have gone to the office, engaged ourselves in social activity, escaping in various forms, and at the end of it, we have nothing but an empty, dull, stupid life, a wasted life. Now, pleasure has created this…” quote by Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/krishnamurti-55305_acquiring-knowledge_most-of-us-waste-this-extraordinary-thin_1596010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/krishnamurti-55305_acquiring-knowledge_most-of-us-waste-this-extraordinary-thin_1596010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e9/krishnamurti-55305_acquiring-knowledge_most-of-us-waste-this-extraordinary-thin_1596010.jpg) > ““Most of us waste this extraordinary thing called life. We have lived forty or sixty years, have gone to the office, engaged ourselves in social activity, escaping in various forms, and at the end of it, we have nothing but an empty, dull, stupid life, a wasted life. Now, pleasure has created this pattern of social life. We take pleasure in ambition, in competition, in acquiring knowledge or power, or position, prestige, status. And that pursuit of pleasure as ambition, competition, greed, envy, status, domination, power is respectable. It is made respectable by a society which has only one concept: that you shall lead a moral life, which is a respectable life. You can be ambitious, you can be greedy, you can be violent, you can be competitive, you can be a ruthless human being, but society accepts it, because at the end of your ambition, you are either so called successful man with plenty of money, or a failure and therefore a frustrated human being. So social morality is immorality.”” [Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishnamurti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how society equates moral respectability with ambition, competition, and material success, leading many to live empty lives focused on external validation rather than inner fulfillment. **In simple terms:** Society values ambition over true meaning, causing wasted lives. Key Takeaway Seek inner purpose beyond societal expectations. Themes materialism morality existence meaning societal pressure Mood reflective critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical ethical social commentary When to use this quote - career advancement - social media influence - consumer culture - education systems Key Concepts existentialism ethical critique psychology Questions to Reflect On - What defines a life well lived for you? - How can you balance personal ambition with inner fulfillment? A Different Perspective It overlooks individuals who find meaning in non-material pursuits and community service. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquiring knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiring-knowledge/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Lfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lfe-106442/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Respectable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-respectable-2809032/) [Moral life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-life/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Pleasure Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-ambition-5008105/) [Respectable Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respectable-life-2125651/) [Respectable Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respectable-society-1579923/) [Social life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-life/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Stupid life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupid-life/) [Successful man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful-man/) [Wasted life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasted-life/) ## Related quotes > [“Forget pleasure and Ambition”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/forget-pleasure-and-ambition/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [I am trying for nothing so hard in my own personal life as how not to be respectable when married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/i-am-trying-for-nothing-so-hard-in-my-own-personal-life-as-how-not-to/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [Aspect to my life: be respectable but be unique, stand up for yourself but remember to be kind, forget the insults but always remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/aspect-to-my-life-be-respectable-but-be-unique-stand-up-for-yourself/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [If you believe in living a respectable life, you believe in self-help which is the best help!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/if-you-believe-in-living-a-respectable-life-you-believe-in-self-help/) [B. 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P. J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/) > [Productiveness is your acceptance of morality, your recognition of the fact that you choose to live-that productive work is the process by which man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/productiveness-is-your-acceptance-of-morality-your-recognition-of-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The outlines of the needed psychology of becoming can be discovered by looking within ourselves; for it is knowledge of our own uniqueness that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-outlines-of-the-needed-psychology-of-becoming-can-be-discovered/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm in the mode of acquiring knowledge and relationships on the business side and it's paramount that you learn as much as you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-dinwiddie/i-m-in-the-mode-of-acquiring-knowledge-and-relationships-on-the/) [Spencer Dinwiddie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-dinwiddie/) > [Your children should have it impressed upon them that their adult life-style will bear very little resemblance to yours and that they should now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/your-children-should-have-it-impressed-upon-them-that-their-adult/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [Learning isn't acquiring knowledge so much as it is trimming information that has already been acquired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/learning-isn-t-acquiring-knowledge-so-much-as-it-is-trimming/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [It is not my prayer and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring a knowledge of natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/it-is-not-my-prayer-and-humility-that-you-cause-things-to-go-as-you/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [All the knowledge that I have doesn't necessarily make me brilliant, but I love acquiring knowledge and then sharing it with everybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/all-the-knowledge-that-i-have-doesn-t-necessarily-make-me-brilliant/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [Man is essentially ignorant, and becomes learned through acquiring knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-khaldun/man-is-essentially-ignorant-and-becomes-learned-through-acquiring/) [Ibn Khaldun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-khaldun/) > [As long as acquiring knowledge is the educational goal of schools, educational opportunities will be limited, as they are now, to affluent families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-glasser/as-long-as-acquiring-knowledge-is-the-educational-goal-of-schools/) [William Glasser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-glasser/) > [“Insight: all evaluation is made from a definite perspective: that of the preservation of the individual, a community, a race, a state, a church,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/insight-all-evaluation-is-made-from-a-definite-perspective-that-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 43 Acquiring knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiring-knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Most of us waste this extraordinary thing called life. 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