--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Other eras and cultures often asked…" description: "\"“Other eras and cultures often asked different questions from the ones we ask now: What is the most meaningful thing you can do with your life? What’s ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/rebecca-solnit-569_life_other-eras-and-cultures-often-asked-diff_3075495.png" --- # Other eras and cultures often asked different questions… ![“Other eras and cultures often asked different questions from the ones we ask now: What is the most meaningful thing you can do with your life? What’s your contribution to the world or your community? Do you live according to your principles? What will your legacy be? What does your life mean?…” quote by Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/rebecca-solnit-569_life_other-eras-and-cultures-often-asked-diff_3075495.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/rebecca-solnit-569_life_other-eras-and-cultures-often-asked-diff_3075495.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/rebecca-solnit-569_life_other-eras-and-cultures-often-asked-diff_3075495.png) > ““Other eras and cultures often asked different questions from the ones we ask now: What is the most meaningful thing you can do with your life? What’s your contribution to the world or your community? Do you live according to your principles? What will your legacy be? What does your life mean? Maybe our obsession with happiness is a way not to ask those other questions, a way to ignore how spacious our lives can be, how effective our work can be, and how far-reaching our love can be.”” [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society often prioritizes happiness over deeper purpose, neglecting questions about meaning, contribution, and legacy. **In simple terms:** We chase happiness, missing deeper purpose. Key Takeaway Ask deeper questions about meaning and contribution. Themes meaning purpose legacy happiness selfreflection Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career planning - volunteering - personal journaling - education Key Concepts existential inquiry values community impact Questions to Reflect On - What deeper question are you avoiding? - How can you align daily actions with your legacy? A Different Perspective Happiness can be a healthy goal when balanced with purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful/) ## Related quotes > [I think if you can create a meaningful thing that is also an advertisement that's a pretty cool option for brands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-walters/i-think-if-you-can-create-a-meaningful-thing-that-is-also-an/) [Doug Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-walters/) > [The only meaningful thing we can offer one another is love. Not advice, not questions about our choices, not suggestions for the future, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-melton/the-only-meaningful-thing-we-can-offer-one-another-is-love-not-advice/) [Glennon Melton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-melton/) > [A person is bound to live like a human being before he dies. As every life, whether it's mean or meaningful, ends up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chandrababu-vs/a-person-is-bound-to-live-like-a-human-being-before-he-dies-as-every/) [Chandrababu VS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chandrababu-vs/) > [“If someone decides to give up their precious time to judge you negatively, let them, it’s their own life they’re wasting, not yours. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-wolf/if-someone-decides-to-give-up-their-precious-time-to-judge-you/) Harrison Wolf > [“White noise, impersonal roar. Deadening incandescence of the boarding terminals. But even these soul-free, sealed-off places are drenched with meaning, spangled and thundering with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/white-noise-impersonal-roar-deadening-incandescence-of-the-boarding/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And (cue music swell) motherhood turned out to be the most meaningful thing I've ever done with my life. Really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-vardalos/and-cue-music-swell-motherhood-turned-out-to-be-the-most-meaningful/) [Nia Vardalos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-vardalos/) > [Obviously, I think the most meaningful thing is winning, and winning the World Series, but the way you help your team, if that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trea-turner/obviously-i-think-the-most-meaningful-thing-is-winning-and-winning/) [Trea Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trea-turner/) > [A song is a meaningful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-walters/a-song-is-a-meaningful-thing/) [Doug Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-walters/) > [I genuinely find the most meaningful thing I do is to make music, but also to absorb some sort of creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-odell/i-genuinely-find-the-most-meaningful-thing-i-do-is-to-make-music-but/) [Tom Odell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-odell/) > [“I have been waiting for death all my life. I do not mean that I actively wish to die, just that I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/i-have-been-waiting-for-death-all-my-life-i-do-not-mean-that-i/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [By 'life,' we mean a thing that can nourish itself and grow and decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/by-life-we-mean-a-thing-that-can-nourish-itself-and-grow-and-decay/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“With success came a new, deeper doubt that any activity, even his cherished writing, could make life mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-maisel/with-success-came-a-new-deeper-doubt-that-any-activity-even-his/) [Eric Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-maisel/) > [The good life may mean doing some things that do not feel comfortable. It may mean sitting long hours just with yourself as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-moore-lapp/the-good-life-may-mean-doing-some-things-that-do-not-feel-comfortable/) [Frances Moore Lappé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-moore-lapp/) > [“Sylvia Plath is there for me when actual living people upon who I have depended upon my whole life, are not. What I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlaina-tibensky/sylvia-plath-is-there-for-me-when-actual-living-people-upon-who-i/) [Arlaina Tibensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlaina-tibensky/) > [“Knowing how to make a life mean something, to wring out its worth when it was right there in one’s hands instead of just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-reed/knowing-how-to-make-a-life-mean-something-to-wring-out-its-worth-when/) [Deborah Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-reed/) ## More by Rebecca Solnit > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/joy-doesn-t-betray-but-sustains-activism-and-when-you-face-a-politics/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“To love someone is to put yourself in their place, we say, which is to put ourself in their story, or figure out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/to-love-someone-is-to-put-yourself-in-their-place-we-say-which-is-to/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“People have always been good at imagining the end of the world, which is much easier to picture than the strange sidelong paths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/people-have-always-been-good-at-imagining-the-end-of-the-world-which/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Whose maps are we trying to read? And what are we trying to draw? 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Maybe Persephone was glad to run off with the king of death to his underground realm, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-wonder-now-about-demeter-and-persephone-maybe-persephone-was-glad/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [ \[In mountaineering, if\] we look for private experience rather than public history, even getting to the top becomes an optional narrative rather than the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-mountaineering-if-we-look-for-private-experience-rather-than/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [For me, being in a car or on an airplane is like being in limbo. It's this dead zone between two places. But to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/for-me-being-in-a-car-or-on-an-airplane-is-like-being-in-limbo-it-s/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“How do you calculate upon the unforeseen? It seems to be an art of recognizing the role of the unforeseen, of keeping your balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/how-do-you-calculate-upon-the-unforeseen-it-seems-to-be-an-art-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Walking shares with making and working that crucial element of engagement of the body and the mind with the world, of knowing the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/walking-shares-with-making-and-working-that-crucial-element-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Marriage equality is a threat: to inequality. It’s a boon to everyone who values and benefits from equality. It’s for all of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/marriage-equality-is-a-threat-to-inequality-it-s-a-boon-to-everyone/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Mountaineering is always spoken of as though summiting is conquest, but as you get higher, the world gets bigger, and you feel smaller in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/mountaineering-is-always-spoken-of-as-though-summiting-is-conquest/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“A procession is a participants' journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-procession-is-a-participants-journey-while-a-parade-is-a/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Explore all 469 Rebecca Solnit quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Other eras and cultures often asked different questions from the ones we ask now: What is the most meaningful thing you can do with your life? 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