--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because people who live their lives this…" description: "\"“Because people who live their lives this way can look forward to a single destiny, shared with others of this type - though such people do not believe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/sheila-heti-2776_human-life_because-people-who-live-their-lives-this_576181.jpg" --- # Because people who live their lives this way can look… ![“Because people who live their lives this way can look forward to a single destiny, shared with others of this type - though such people do not believe they represent a type, but feel themselves distinguished from the common run of man, who they see as held down by the banal anchors of the world…” quote by Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/sheila-heti-2776_human-life_because-people-who-live-their-lives-this_576181.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/sheila-heti-2776_human-life_because-people-who-live-their-lives-this_576181.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/sheila-heti-2776_human-life_because-people-who-live-their-lives-this_576181.jpg) > ““Because people who live their lives this way can look forward to a single destiny, shared with others of this type - though such people do not believe they represent a type, but feel themselves distinguished from the common run of man, who they see as held down by the banal anchors of the world. But while others actually build a life in which things gain meaning and significance, this is not true of the puer. Such a person inevitably looks back on life as it nears its end with a feeling of emptiness and sadness, aware of what they have built: nothing. In their quest for a life without failure, suffer, or doubt, that is what they achieve: a life empty of all those things that make a human life meaningful. And yet they started off believing themselves too special for this world! But - and here is the hope - there is a solution for people of this type, and it's perhaps not the solution that could have been predicted. The answer for them is to build on what they have begun and not abandon their plans as soon as things start getting difficult. They must work - without escaping into fantasies about being the person who worked. And I don't mean work for its own sake, but they must choose work that begins and ends in a passion, a question that is gnawing at their guts, which is not to be avoided but must be realized and live through the hard work and suffering that inevitably comes with the process. They must reinforce and build on what is in their life already rather than always starting anew, hoping to find a situation without danger. Puers don't need to check themselves into analysis. If they can just remember this - It is their everlasting switching that is the dangerous thing, and not what they choose - they might discover themselves saved. The problem is the puer ever anticipates loss, disappointment, and suffering - which they foresee at the very beginning of every experience, so they cut themselves off at the beginning, retreating almost at once in order to protect themselves. In this way, they never give themselves to life - living in constant dread of the end. Reason, in this case, has taken too much from life. They must give themselves completely to the experience! One things sometimes how much more alive such people would be if they suffered! If they can't be happy, let them at least be unhappy - really, really unhappy for once, and then the might become truly human!”” [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People who feel uniquely destined often avoid meaningful work, leading to emptiness; they must embrace challenging, passionate work rather than escape into fantasies. **In simple terms:** Avoiding risk leads to empty life; pursue passionate work. Key Takeaway Commit to work that challenges and fulfills you. Themes identity meaning work existential risk growth Mood determined hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - personal development - overcoming fear Key Concepts existentialism authenticity purpose self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What passions can you pursue despite fear? - How does confronting difficulty create meaning? 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Driven by the forces of love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/today-something-is-happening-to-the-whole-structure-of-human/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) ## More by Sheila Heti > [I believe there's a platonic ideal for every book that is written, like there's the perfect version of the book somewhere in the ether,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-believe-there-s-a-platonic-ideal-for-every-book-that-is-written/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [I really enjoyed the process of 'Women in Clothes,' but there's no way I would have done that again. It felt more like being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-really-enjoyed-the-process-of-women-in-clothes-but-there-s-no-way-i/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“style is about knowing what you like and why you like it, more than anything else. GRACE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/style-is-about-knowing-what-you-like-and-why-you-like-it-more-than/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [I'd rather that people could be both entertained and given rest while reading my book than for someone to have to put the book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-d-rather-that-people-could-be-both-entertained-and-given-rest-while/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“I know that character exists from the outside alone. I know that inside the body there's just temperature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-know-that-character-exists-from-the-outside-alone-i-know-that/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [I don't think about the reader when I'm writing, but I do when I'm editing, of course. For instance, I self-consciously didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-don-t-think-about-the-reader-when-i-m-writing-but-i-do-when-i-m/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [He’s just another man who wants to teach me something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/he-s-just-another-man-who-wants-to-teach-me-something/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“She had thought that when someone died, it would be like they went into a different room. She had not known that life itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/she-had-thought-that-when-someone-died-it-would-be-like-they-went/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [It's so weird how our existence hinges on just absolute crazy chance, but it feels so essential. It's like, 'Nothing would be here if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/it-s-so-weird-how-our-existence-hinges-on-just-absolute-crazy-chance/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [In 'Sweet Days of Discipline,' the narrator, years after graduating, fortuitously encounters her old friend Frederique at a movie theatre. Frederique invites her home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/in-sweet-days-of-discipline-the-narrator-years-after-graduating/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [Every choice you make has higher stakes - or that's how it feels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/every-choice-you-make-has-higher-stakes-or-that-s-how-it-feels/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [Women without children can help mothers, and we can just be all in this together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/women-without-children-can-help-mothers-and-we-can-just-be-all-in/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [The reason I write is because I have questions. What I don't want is for people to forget that I'm a novelist and think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/the-reason-i-write-is-because-i-have-questions-what-i-don-t-want-is/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“But style, I also learned, is not about strictly copying others, because style is not transferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/but-style-i-also-learned-is-not-about-strictly-copying-others-because/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [Renown is something people have always wanted, but maybe what's modern is that it's considered a virtue, this desire, rather than a vice. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/renown-is-something-people-have-always-wanted-but-maybe-what-s-modern/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) [Explore all 150 Sheila Heti quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) ## More Human life quotes > [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/) > [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) [Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/) > [To hurry through the rise and fall of a fine, full sentence is like defying the role of time in human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/to-hurry-through-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-fine-full-sentence-is-like/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Art is not a pleasure, a solace, or an amusement; art is great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmitting man's reasonable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/art-is-not-a-pleasure-a-solace-or-an-amusement-art-is-great-matter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I free slaves because I believe we are all created equal. I just can't think of anything that has a higher purpose than putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-williams/i-free-slaves-because-i-believe-we-are-all-created-equal-i-just-can-t/) [Virginia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-williams/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [There seems to be a kind of order in the universe…in the movement of the stars and the turning of the Earth and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-seems-to-be-a-kind-of-order-in-the-universe-in-the-movement-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I think we are not spend our life as it pick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankit-narwal/i-think-we-are-not-spend-our-life-as-it-pick/) [ANKIT NARWAL](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankit-narwal/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-s-smith/) > [“You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-finally-fell-in-love-i-see-said-salo-only-an-earthling-year-ago/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Browse all 2,309 Human life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Because people who live their lives this way can look forward to a single destiny, shared with others of this type - though such people do not believe they represent a type, but feel themselves distinguished from the common run of man, who they see as held down by the banal anchors of the world. But while others actually build a life in which things gain meaning and significance, this is not true of the puer. Such a person inevitably looks back on life as it nears its end with a feeling of emptiness and sadness, aware of what they have built: nothing. In their quest for a life without failure, suffer, or doubt, that is what they achieve: a life empty of all those things that make a human life meaningful. And yet they started off believing themselves too special for this world! But - and here is the hope - there is a solution for people of this type, and it's perhaps not the solution that could have been predicted. The answer for them is to build on what they have begun and not abandon their plans as soon as things start getting difficult. They must work - without escaping into fantasies about being the person who worked. And I don't mean work for its own sake, but they must choose work that begins and ends in a passion, a question that is gnawing at their guts, which is not to be avoided but must be realized and live through the hard work and suffering that inevitably comes with the process. They must reinforce and build on what is in their life already rather than always starting anew, hoping to find a situation without danger. Puers don't need to check themselves into analysis. If they can just remember this - It is their everlasting switching that is the dangerous thing, and not what they choose - they might discover themselves saved. The problem is the puer ever anticipates loss, disappointment, and suffering - which they foresee at the very beginning of every experience, so they cut themselves off at the beginning, retreating almost at once in order to protect themselves. In this way, they never give themselves to life - living in constant dread of the end. 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