--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I feel that my whole life is a…" description: "\"I feel that my whole life is a contribution.\" — Pete Seeger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png" --- # I feel that my whole life is a contribution. ![“I feel that my whole life is a contribution.” quote by Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png) > “I feel that my whole life is a contribution.” [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing one's existence as a contribution frames life as purposeful service to others. **In simple terms:** Life is a meaningful contribution. Key Takeaway Live purposefully for others. Themes purpose service legacy Mood inspirational hopeful Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - volunteering - career - artistic work - community projects Key Concepts altruism meaningfulness Questions to Reflect On - What contribution defines you? - How can you increase your impact? A Different Perspective Self‑interest can conflict with altruism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contribution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contribution/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [My life is a contribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/my-life-is-a-contribution/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [You gotta be happy when you wake up in the morning and look at what's next to ya. You wanna just hop on it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dice-clay/you-gotta-be-happy-when-you-wake-up-in-the-morning-and-look-at-what-s/) [Andrew Dice Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dice-clay/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Now I feel life is really short and I have to take care of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/now-i-feel-life-is-really-short-and-i-have-to-take-care-of-things/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [But people who think they can project themselves into deafness are mistaken because you can't. And I'm not talking about imagining what a deaf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-masur/but-people-who-think-they-can-project-themselves-into-deafness-are/) [Richard Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-masur/) > [I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel/i-want-my-whole-life-to-be-a-great-work-of-art-not-just-my-art-and/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel/) > [A self is a frightening thing to waste, it's the lens through which one's whole life is viewed, and few people are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/a-self-is-a-frightening-thing-to-waste-it-s-the-lens-through-which/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [Thought determines action. Do not let your whole life be a reaction to the things that happen around you each day. 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There's a level…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-reyes/as-i-feel-this-life-growing-and-moving-inside-of-me-all-of-a-sudden/) [Judy Reyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-reyes/) > [Rather than feeling lost and unimportant and meaningless, set against galaxies which go beyond the reach of the furthest telescopes, I feel that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/rather-than-feeling-lost-and-unimportant-and-meaningless-set-against/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. But you and I, we've been through that, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/there-are-many-here-among-us-who-feel-that-life-is-but-a-joke-but-you/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I always feel that life can teach you how to act. I'm always looking at life through other people's eyes. By feeling empathy. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-delevingne/i-always-feel-that-life-can-teach-you-how-to-act-i-m-always-looking/) [Cara Delevingne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-delevingne/) ## More by Pete Seeger > [Honest songs aren't written for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/honest-songs-aren-t-written-for-money/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [My father, Charles Seeger, got me into the Communist movement. He backed out around '38. I drifted out in the 50's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/my-father-charles-seeger-got-me-into-the-communist-movement-he-backed/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [In the sixties, during the Vietnam war, when anarchists and pacifists and socialists, Democrats and Republicans, decent-hearted Americans, all recoiled with horror at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-sixties-during-the-vietnam-war-when-anarchists-and-pacifists/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Now somebody will ask me, Pete, how can you prove these songs really make a difference? And I have to confess I can't prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/now-somebody-will-ask-me-pete-how-can-you-prove-these-songs-really/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [The truth is a rabbit in a bramble patch. All you can do is circle around and say it's somewhere in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/the-truth-is-a-rabbit-in-a-bramble-patch-all-you-can-do-is-circle/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-about-16-years-old-years-when-my-father-took-me-to-a-square/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [It was Rachel Carson's famous book 'Silent Spring' that got me involved with the environment. I read it in The New Yorker, in installments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/it-was-rachel-carson-s-famous-book-silent-spring-that-got-me-involved/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/when-you-play-the-12-string-guitar-you-spend-half-your-life-tuning/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Folks out in the country couldn't afford to pay for anybody else to make music. They had to make their own. So the peasantry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/folks-out-in-the-country-couldn-t-afford-to-pay-for-anybody-else-to/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [If there's something wrong, speak up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/if-there-s-something-wrong-speak-up/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [This world is so full of hypocrisy, the only way you can be honest is to be a hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/this-world-is-so-full-of-hypocrisy-the-only-way-you-can-be-honest-is/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [There is a big, beautiful world that could be destroyed by selfishness and foolishness. We musicians have it within our power to help save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/there-is-a-big-beautiful-world-that-could-be-destroyed-by-selfishness/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [And the people in the houses All went to the University And they got put in boxes Little boxes all the same, Little boxes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/and-the-people-in-the-houses-all-went-to-the-university-and-they-got/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [A good song reminds us what we're fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/a-good-song-reminds-us-what-we-re-fighting-for/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Most conservatives just want to turn back the clock to a time before the income tax - 100 years or so. I would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/most-conservatives-just-want-to-turn-back-the-clock-to-a-time-before/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) [Explore all 196 Pete Seeger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More Contribution quotes > [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/) Vernon Johns > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I love Black Sabbath. They made an amazing contribution to music today. Almost every band that made it big in the Nineties owed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-grohl/i-love-black-sabbath-they-made-an-amazing-contribution-to-music-today/) [Dave Grohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-grohl/) > [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/) > [I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. His contribution as a goal threat is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-ferguson/i-have-nothing-but-praise-for-the-boy-he-is-easily-the-best-player-in/) [Alex Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-ferguson/) > [The way a culture treats women in birth is a good indicator of how well women and their contributions to society are valued and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ina-may-gaskin/the-way-a-culture-treats-women-in-birth-is-a-good-indicator-of-how/) [Ina May Gaskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ina-may-gaskin/) > [The excellence of this important contribution to genre literature CANNOT be overstated A masterwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-nolan/the-excellence-of-this-important-contribution-to-genre-literature/) William F. Nolan > [Of course, corporations and governments have a right to something for their money. They pay the wages. But they don't have the ethical right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/of-course-corporations-and-governments-have-a-right-to-something-for/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [Fundamentally transforming the foundations of the economy is the biggest contribution we can make towards building a sustainable future. The current economic crisis may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-porritt/fundamentally-transforming-the-foundations-of-the-economy-is-the/) [Jonathon Porritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-porritt/) > [I think self-deprecation is such a disease, and I want to cure everybody of it and so that's my contribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-think-self-deprecation-is-such-a-disease-and-i-want-to-cure/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [It is in the measure that special methods acknowledge their common core in transcendental method, that norms common to all the sciences will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/it-is-in-the-measure-that-special-methods-acknowledge-their-common/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/chaperons-even-in-their-days-of-glory-were-almost-never-able-to/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [Replace your pursuit of success with the pursuit of contribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/replace-your-pursuit-of-success-with-the-pursuit-of-contribution/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [There is no art or science that is too difficult for industry to attain to; it is the gift of tongues, and makes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hyde-1st-earl-of-clarendon/there-is-no-art-or-science-that-is-too-difficult-for-industry-to/) [Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hyde-1st-earl-of-clarendon/) > [What 'eminent domain' laws mean in practice is that politicians have a right to seize your property and turn it over to someone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/what-eminent-domain-laws-mean-in-practice-is-that-politicians-have-a/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Browse all 1,297 Contribution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contribution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I feel that my whole life is a contribution.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Seeger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribution/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contribution" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribution/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/pete-seeger-1942_contribution_i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribut_1768932.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I feel that my whole life is a contribution.” — Pete Seeger", "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": "Pete Seeger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I feel that my whole life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribution/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-feel-that-my-whole-life-is-a-contribution/#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 } } ] } ```