--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man can look upon his life and accept…" description: "\"A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png" --- # A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or… ![“A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things.” quote by Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png) > “A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things.” [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People can easily label life as good or evil, but recognizing its lack of significance is far more difficult and unsettling. **In simple terms:** Seeing life as insignificant is harder than judging it good or bad. Key Takeaway Contemplate the deeper purpose beyond simple judgments. Themes existential philosophy meaning Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - midlife crisis - career stagnation - creative block - spiritual questioning Key Concepts nihilism subjectivity acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What does “unimportant” mean to you? - How do you find meaning when life feels trivial? A Different Perspective Denial of meaning can lead to apathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“What is there to confess that’s worthwhile or useful? What has happened to us has happened to everyone or only to us; if to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-is-there-to-confess-that-s-worthwhile-or-useful-what-has-2/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The little sins are sometimes harder to confess than the big ones—but that's why it's so important to confess them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-little-sins-are-sometimes-harder-to-confess-than-the-big-ones-but/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [If I write what I feel, it's to reduce the fever of feeling. What I confess is unimportant, because everything is unimportant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-i-write-what-i-feel-it-s-to-reduce-the-fever-of-feeling-what-i/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [It's harder to confess the sin that no one believes in Than the crime that everyone can appreciate. For the crime is in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-harder-to-confess-the-sin-that-no-one-believes-in-than-the-crime/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You may look back on your life and accept it as good or evil. But it is far, far harder to admit that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-horsley/you-may-look-back-on-your-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-but-it/) [Sebastian Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-horsley/) > [Accept good advice gracefully - as long as it doesn't interfere with what you intended to do in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-brown/accept-good-advice-gracefully-as-long-as-it-doesn-t-interfere-with/) [Gene Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-brown/) > [“I got to a point where I could live a more complete and satisfactory life because I am willing to accept that the good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-martin/i-got-to-a-point-where-i-could-live-a-more-complete-and-satisfactory/) [Ricky Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-martin/) > [Our lives are of great worth if we accept with good grace the situation Providence places us in, and go on living lovingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takashi-nagai/our-lives-are-of-great-worth-if-we-accept-with-good-grace-the/) [Takashi Nagai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takashi-nagai/) > [Silently hear everyone. Accept what is good. Reject and forget what is not. This is intelligent living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinmayananda-saraswati/silently-hear-everyone-accept-what-is-good-reject-and-forget-what-is/) [Chinmayananda Saraswati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinmayananda-saraswati/) > [“Accept the good, however big or small, with no strings attached.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-f-glassman/accept-the-good-however-big-or-small-with-no-strings-attached/) [Charles F. Glassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-f-glassman/) > [“In any age when people pervert goodness, love, and obedience and set up a god small enough to fit their shrunken souls...Anything is evil,...It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zenna-henderson/in-any-age-when-people-pervert-goodness-love-and-obedience-and-set-up/) Zenna Henderson > [“Accept that you can and will do what you must do, to take good care of yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/accept-that-you-can-and-will-do-what-you-must-do-to-take-good-care-of/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I open my arms wide and declare with love that I deserve and accept all good!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-hay/i-open-my-arms-wide-and-declare-with-love-that-i-deserve-and-accept/) [Louise Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-hay/) > [It's O.K. to accept good fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/it-s-o-k-to-accept-good-fortune/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I wish I could just accept that I'm not that good and not be shy about the fact that I'm not that professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-gainsbourg/i-wish-i-could-just-accept-that-i-m-not-that-good-and-not-be-shy/) [Charlotte Gainsbourg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-gainsbourg/) ## More by Murray Kempton > [It is a measure of the Negro's circumstance that, in America, the smallest things usually take him so very long, and that, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-a-measure-of-the-negro-s-circumstance-that-in-america-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A political convention is just not a place where you come away with any trace of faith in human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-political-convention-is-just-not-a-place-where-you-come-away-with/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [It is not the least of a martyr's scourges to be canonized by the persons who burned him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-not-the-least-of-a-martyr-s-scourges-to-be-canonized-by-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [There is a raging tiger inside every man whom God put on this earth. Every man worthy of the respect of his children spends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/there-is-a-raging-tiger-inside-every-man-whom-god-put-on-this-earth/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [As an organized political group, the Communists have done nothing to damage our society a fraction as much as what their enemies have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/as-an-organized-political-group-the-communists-have-done-nothing-to/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [We are a government of laws. Any laws some government hack can find to louse up a man who's down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/we-are-a-government-of-laws-any-laws-some-government-hack-can-find-to/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Any experience deeply felt makes some men better and some men worse. When it has ended, they share nothing but the recollection of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/any-experience-deeply-felt-makes-some-men-better-and-some-men-worse/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-record-of-unbroken/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [It is function of government to invent philosophies to explain the demands of its own convenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-function-of-government-to-invent-philosophies-to-explain-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Every social war is a battle between the very few on both sides who care and who fire their shots across a crowd of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/every-social-war-is-a-battle-between-the-very-few-on-both-sides-who/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Men very seldom change, try though we will, beneath the shifts of exterior doctrine, our hearts so often remain what they were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/men-very-seldom-change-try-though-we-will-beneath-the-shifts-of/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [To say that an idea is fashionable is to say, I think, that is has been adulterated to a point where it is hardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/to-say-that-an-idea-is-fashionable-is-to-say-i-think-that-is-has-been/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-critic-is-someone-who-enters-the-battlefield-after-the-war-is-over/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [America... an economic system prouder of the distribution of its products than of the products themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/america-an-economic-system-prouder-of-the-distribution-of-its/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [There are things a man must not do even to save a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/there-are-things-a-man-must-not-do-even-to-save-a-nation/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) [Explore all 32 Murray Kempton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) ## More Confess quotes > [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [On a related subject, Signore Pazzi, I must confess to you: I'm giving serious thought to eating your wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/on-a-related-subject-signore-pazzi-i-must-confess-to-you-i-m-giving/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“I wanted to come clean many times. I wanted to admit my jealousy, to confess my sarcasm and endless anger, to put all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/invisible-sam/i-wanted-to-come-clean-many-times-i-wanted-to-admit-my-jealousy-to/) Invisible Sam > [“Lord, we confess our numerous faults, How great our guilt has been! Foolish and vain were all our thoughts, And all our lives were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/lord-we-confess-our-numerous-faults-how-great-our-guilt-has-been/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/i-want-to-confess-as-best-i-can-but-my-heart-is-void-the-void-is-a/) [Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/) > [Tell me, if I confess my feelings to you, will you say you feel the same? Or am I going to have to cringe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/tell-me-if-i-confess-my-feelings-to-you-will-you-say-you-feel-the/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [I confess freely to you, I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-congreve/i-confess-freely-to-you-i-could-never-look-long-upon-a-monkey-without/) [William Congreve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-congreve/) > [“We rarely confide in those who are better than we. Most often, on the other hand, we confess to those who are like us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/we-rarely-confide-in-those-who-are-better-than-we-most-often-on-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [You dont go to hell for being gay unless you confess your sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-dont-go-to-hell-for-being-gay-unless-you-confess-your-sin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Why will no man confess his faults? Because he continues to indulge in them; a man cannot tell his dream till he wakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/why-will-no-man-confess-his-faults-because-he-continues-to-indulge-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“You got what you deserved. Now be a man and confess to what most of us already know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-buck/you-got-what-you-deserved-now-be-a-man-and-confess-to-what-most-of-us/) [Stacy Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-buck/) > [Oh yes. You’ve caught me. I confess. My sole purpose in life is to gleefully, willfully, maniacally destroy all of your precious chrome babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-estep/oh-yes-you-ve-caught-me-i-confess-my-sole-purpose-in-life-is-to/) [Jennifer Estep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-estep/) > [“Confess your sins, worship God, and get on with your life. You can experience the mercy of God no matter what you’ve been through.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-s-mcgee/confess-your-sins-worship-god-and-get-on-with-your-life-you-can/) [Robert S. McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-s-mcgee/) > [“My name is John Creedmoor, and I would like to confess my crimes. Hope you all weren't going anywhere this week...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gilman/my-name-is-john-creedmoor-and-i-would-like-to-confess-my-crimes-hope/) Felix Gilman > [“The truth is, not one of is innocent. We all have sins to confess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-w-gortner/the-truth-is-not-one-of-is-innocent-we-all-have-sins-to-confess/) [C.W. Gortner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-w-gortner/) Browse all 412 Confess quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Murray Kempton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-it-is-far/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confess" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-it-is-far/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/murray-kempton-19763_confess_a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept_1291931.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it…” — Murray Kempton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Murray Kempton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A man can look upon his...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-it-is-far/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-it-is-far/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```