--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living is worth the effort if only…" description: "\"“Living is worth the effort if only because without life we could not read or imagine stories.”\" — Mario Vargas Llosa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_fiction_living-is-worth-the-effort-if-only-becau_314883.png" --- # Living is worth the effort if only because without life we… ![“Living is worth the effort if only because without life we could not read or imagine stories.” quote by Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_fiction_living-is-worth-the-effort-if-only-becau_314883.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_fiction_living-is-worth-the-effort-if-only-becau_314883.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_fiction_living-is-worth-the-effort-if-only-becau_314883.png) > ““Living is worth the effort if only because without life we could not read or imagine stories.”” [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s value is affirmed through the capacity to imagine stories, which reading enables. **In simple terms:** Reading gives life meaning by allowing imagination. Key Takeaway Read to enrich life and imagination. Themes literature imagination meaning existence storytelling Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - book clubs - creative writing classes - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism cognitive enrichment creative thought Questions to Reflect On - What story has changed your perspective? - How does reading shape your sense of purpose? A Different Perspective Without imagination, life feels hollow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [You've got to do something with all the books you've read, so you might as well imagine you've optioned them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/you-ve-got-to-do-something-with-all-the-books-you-ve-read-so-you/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [No, but it is something I really enjoy speaking about. You've got to do something with all the books you've read, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/no-but-it-is-something-i-really-enjoy-speaking-about-you-ve-got-to-do/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [You sit and you read that, and you have to imagine turning it into a film that people are going to sit and watch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-petersen/you-sit-and-you-read-that-and-you-have-to-imagine-turning-it-into-a/) [Wolfgang Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-petersen/) > [“All novels are impossible. We would not wish to read them if they were not. Can you imagine how dull a tale would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-williams/all-novels-are-impossible-we-would-not-wish-to-read-them-if-they-were/) Caitlin Williams > [Once I learned to read, I could not imagine my life otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-donohue/once-i-learned-to-read-i-could-not-imagine-my-life-otherwise/) [Keith Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-donohue/) > [The most exhausting effort in my life has been to suppress my own nature in order to make it serve my biggest plans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-most-exhausting-effort-in-my-life-has-been-to-suppress-my-own/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [When people put effort in life, it's more beautiful. But it doesn't come naturally to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-southern/when-people-put-effort-in-life-it-s-more-beautiful-but-it-doesn-t/) [Lauren Southern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-southern/) > [With just a little effort, life can be more or less exceptionally tolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-simmons/with-just-a-little-effort-life-can-be-more-or-less-exceptionally/) [Gene Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-simmons/) > [My own experience is that there is no real effort in life that is not done better under encouragement and approval of our fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schwab/my-own-experience-is-that-there-is-no-real-effort-in-life-that-is-not/) [Charles M. Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schwab/) > [Theàpeople who truly matter, will make an effort to be in your life. 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Those who don't, will fade away like colours in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-people-who-truly-matter-will-make-an-effort-to-be-in-your-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/effort-is-important-but-knowing-where-to-make-an-effort-in-your-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm making a great effort because sometimes life is not enjoyable. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes it's stressful, sometimes it's agonizing even, so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/i-m-making-a-great-effort-because-sometimes-life-is-not-enjoyable/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) ## More by Mario Vargas Llosa > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Nothing better protects a human being against the stupidity of prejudice, racism, religious or political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism than this truth that invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/nothing-better-protects-a-human-being-against-the-stupidity-of/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [I learnt to read when I was five, and I think that is the most important thing that happened to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-learnt-to-read-when-i-was-five-and-i-think-that-is-the-most/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Death isn't enough. It doesn't remove the stain. But a slap, a whiplash, square on the face, does. Because a man's face is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/death-isn-t-enough-it-doesn-t-remove-the-stain-but-a-slap-a-whiplash/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The writer’s job is to write with rigor, with commitment, to defend what they believe with all the talent they have. 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We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/when-i-was-growing-up-the-spanish-speaking-world-was-balkanized-we/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Explore all 166 Mario Vargas Llosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. 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I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. 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I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. 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