--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We hanker to go on, even in the face of…" description: "\"We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence that long, long lives are not necessarily pleasurable in the kind of society we have arranged th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/lewis-thomas-2299_evidence_we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-p_2578114.png" --- # We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence… ![“We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence that long, long lives are not necessarily pleasurable in the kind of society we have arranged thus far. We will be lucky if we can postpone the search for new technologies for a while, until we have discovered some satisfactory things to do…” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/lewis-thomas-2299_evidence_we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-p_2578114.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/lewis-thomas-2299_evidence_we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-p_2578114.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/lewis-thomas-2299_evidence_we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-p_2578114.png) > “We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence that long, long lives are not necessarily pleasurable in the kind of society we have arranged thus far. We will be lucky if we can postpone the search for new technologies for a while, until we have discovered some satisfactory things to do with the extra time.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Long lives may be unpleasant; we should find worthwhile ways to use extra time. **In simple terms:** Longevity can be burdensome; seek purpose. Key Takeaway Find meaningful pursuits. Themes longevity purpose technology Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - retirement planning - volunteering - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism future studies Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life meaning? - How can society improve later-life happiness? A Different Perspective May ignore quality of life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Evidence Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence-long-1753270/) [Extra time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extra-time/) [Extras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extras/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-life/) [Long Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-live/) [Long Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-lives-315729/) [Long Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-long/) [Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucky/) [New technologies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-technologies/) [New technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-technology/) [Postpone Search](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postpone-search-1753269/) [Technologies Discovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technologies-discovered-1753268/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Things to do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-to-do/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [If we have learned anything at all in this century, it is that all new technologies will be put to use, sooner or later,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-we-have-learned-anything-at-all-in-this-century-it-is-that-all-new/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“We saw our friends die. But we also see our friends live. So many of them live, and we often toast their long and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-saw-our-friends-die-but-we-also-see-our-friends-live-so-many-of/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [A person learns as long as he lives and still dies a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-person-learns-as-long-as-he-lives-and-still-dies-a-fool/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/so-long-as-men-can-breathe-or-eyes-can-see-so-long-lives-this-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“You eternals have long lives, but short memories. The changing people have short lives, but we do not forget.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-eternals-have-long-lives-but-short-memories-the-changing-people/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [He lives long that lives well, and time misspent is not lived, but lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-fuller/he-lives-long-that-lives-well-and-time-misspent-is-not-lived-but-lost/) [Thomas Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-fuller/) > [We each have our lives... What matters is not how long those lives last, but what we do with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-j-anderson/we-each-have-our-lives-what-matters-is-not-how-long-those-lives-last/) [Kevin J. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-j-anderson/) > [No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/no-matter-how-long-he-lives-no-man-ever-becomes-as-wise-as-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [As long as one lives he will have need of repentance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/as-long-as-one-lives-he-will-have-need-of-repentance/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/women-should-be-tough-tender-laugh-as-much-as-possible-and-live-long-2/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Now I'm no biologist, but it seems to make a lot of sense that slow lives, as well as being enjoyable, are long lives.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/now-i-m-no-biologist-but-it-seems-to-make-a-lot-of-sense-that-slow/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [My parents lived very long lives. And good lives, too. They're great people, but good lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/my-parents-lived-very-long-lives-and-good-lives-too-they-re-great/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Most long lives resemble those threads of gossamer, the nearest approach to nothing unmeaningly prolonged, scarce visible pathways of some worm from his cradle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/most-long-lives-resemble-those-threads-of-gossamer-the-nearest/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [“Man must learn as long as he lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/man-must-learn-as-long-as-he-lives/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [The mathematician lives long and lives young; the wings of his soul do not early drop off, nor do its pores become clogged with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joseph-sylvester/the-mathematician-lives-long-and-lives-young-the-wings-of-his-soul-do/) [James Joseph Sylvester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joseph-sylvester/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Evidence quotes > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [“What you owe your critics are your RESULTS not explanations not defence just RESULTS.Evidence terminates Arguments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fela-durotoye/what-you-owe-your-critics-are-your-results-not-explanations-not/) [Fela Durotoye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fela-durotoye/) > [“Dogmatism compensates for evidence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-wallace/dogmatism-compensates-for-evidence/) [Dana Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-wallace/) > [“Cops aren't really your friends, they are trying to be your friends but they are not… - They are searching evidence to PIN YOU.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deyth-banger/cops-aren-t-really-your-friends-they-are-trying-to-be-your-friends/) [Deyth Banger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deyth-banger/) > [There's overwhelming evidence... circumstantial and otherwise, to suggest a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/there-s-overwhelming-evidence-circumstantial-and-otherwise-to-suggest/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Human unhappiness is evidence of our immortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/human-unhappiness-is-evidence-of-our-immortality/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [The state is in danger of falling into disrepute due to the evidence of its inadequate resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/the-state-is-in-danger-of-falling-into-disrepute-due-to-the-evidence/) [Jurgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/) > [You are innocent until proven guilty. And if folks have come forward, whether it is judge Roy Moore or whether it is anyone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rosendale/you-are-innocent-until-proven-guilty-and-if-folks-have-come-forward/) [Matt Rosendale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-rosendale/) > [There is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of CO2 is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-is-still-zero-empirical-evidence-that-anthropogenic-production/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [“‎If you regard evidence as a constraint and seek to free yourself, you sell yourself into the chains of your whims. For you cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/if-you-regard-evidence-as-a-constraint-and-seek-to-free-yourself-you/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [ We have reached a situation where a theory has been accepted as fact by some, and possible contrary evidence is shunted aside. \[This is\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/we-have-reached-a-situation-where-a-theory-has-been-accepted-as-fact/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) [Browse all 3,643 Evidence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence that long, long lives are not necessarily pleasurable in the kind of society we have arranged thus far. 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