---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: why haven't we seventy lives? One is no…"
description: "\"why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.\" — Winifred Holtby"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png"
---

#  why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.

![“why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.” quote by Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png)

> “why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.”

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A rhetorical question about the futility of many lives when one feels useless.

**In simple terms:** Why have many lives if one seems pointless?

Key Takeaway

Find purpose beyond mere existence.

Themes

existentialism purpose despair

Mood

introspective hopeful

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- career choice
- spiritual seeking
- mental health

Key Concepts

meaning of life self‑worth

Questions to Reflect On

- What gives your life meaning?
- How can you value each existence?

A Different Perspective

Life may feel meaningless without purpose.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Seventies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seventies/)

## Related quotes

> [At seventy-three I learned a little about the real structure of animals, plants, birds, fishes and insects. Consequently when I am eighty I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hokusai/at-seventy-three-i-learned-a-little-about-the-real-structure-of/)

[Hokusai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hokusai/)

> [I found after seventy years that I was not a lunatic but a moron… I should have been able to do better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-found-after-seventy-years-that-i-was-not-a-lunatic-but-a-moron-i/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [Out of the seventy movies I've written some ten of them were not entirely waste product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/out-of-the-seventy-movies-i-ve-written-some-ten-of-them-were-not/)

[Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/)

> [Since we are what we are, what shall we be But what we are? We are, we have Six feet and seventy years, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/since-we-are-what-we-are-what-shall-we-be-but-what-we-are-we-are-we/)

[Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/)

> [It's frightening how much things change in seventy-one years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-carter/it-s-frightening-how-much-things-change-in-seventy-one-years/)

[Aimee Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-carter/)

> [I am seventy years old, a gray age weighted with uncompromising biblical allusions. It ought to have a gray outlook, but it hasn't, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/i-am-seventy-years-old-a-gray-age-weighted-with-uncompromising/)

[Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/)

> [When you are fifty, you're neither young nor old; you're just uninteresting. When you are sixty, and still dancing, you become something of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-st-denis/when-you-are-fifty-you-re-neither-young-nor-old-you-re-just/)

[Ruth St. Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-st-denis/)

> [After seventy years of expository preaching, I have yet to touch the hem of His garment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-a-criswell/after-seventy-years-of-expository-preaching-i-have-yet-to-touch-the/)

[W. A. Criswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-a-criswell/)

> [I am inclined to put the zenith of success-the time of most consideration and public labor -as somewhere in the sixties, say from sixty-five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-nicoll/i-am-inclined-to-put-the-zenith-of-success-the-time-of-most/)

William Robertson Nicoll

> [Don't live the same year seventy-five times and call it a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s/don-t-live-the-same-year-seventy-five-times-and-call-it-a-life/)

Robin S

> [It is not quite the same when we are seventy-two as when we are twenty-seven; still I am glad of what is left, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-stone/it-is-not-quite-the-same-when-we-are-seventy-two-as-when-we-are/)

[Lucy Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-stone/)

> [Jose DeLeon on his career has seventy-three wins and one-hundred and five RBIs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-kiner/jose-deleon-on-his-career-has-seventy-three-wins-and-one-hundred-and/)

[Ralph Kiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-kiner/)

> [Being seventy is not a sin. It's not a joy, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golda-meir/being-seventy-is-not-a-sin-it-s-not-a-joy-either/)

[Golda Meir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golda-meir/)

> [I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-sometimes-lie-awake-at-night-and-try-to-imagine-what-would-be-the/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [I'd rather have ten years of superhypermost than live to be seventy sitting in some goddamn chair watching TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-joplin/i-d-rather-have-ten-years-of-superhypermost-than-live-to-be-seventy/)

[Janis Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-joplin/)

## More by Winifred Holtby

> [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Love needs the stiffening of respect, the give and take of equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/love-needs-the-stiffening-of-respect-the-give-and-take-of-equality/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Sorrow and frustration have their power. The world is moved by people with great discontents. Happiness is a drug. It can make men blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/sorrow-and-frustration-have-their-power-the-world-is-moved-by-people/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [There's never been a lack of men willing to die bravely. The trouble is to find a few able to live sensibly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/there-s-never-been-a-lack-of-men-willing-to-die-bravely-the-trouble/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [I advise nobody to drown sorrow in cocoa. It is bad for the figure and it does not alleviate the sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/i-advise-nobody-to-drown-sorrow-in-cocoa-it-is-bad-for-the-figure-and/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [What a strange distance there is between ill people and well ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/what-a-strange-distance-there-is-between-ill-people-and-well-ones/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [The crown of life is neither happiness nor annihilation; it is understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/the-crown-of-life-is-neither-happiness-nor-annihilation-it-is/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [public work brings a vicarious but assured sense of immortality. We may be poor, weak, timid, in debt to our landlady, bullied by our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/public-work-brings-a-vicarious-but-assured-sense-of-immortality-we/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Everybody's tragedy is somebody's nuisance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/everybody-s-tragedy-is-somebody-s-nuisance/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [I can't think why I was cursed with this inordinate desire to write, if the high gods weren't going to give me some more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/i-can-t-think-why-i-was-cursed-with-this-inordinate-desire-to-write/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [If you are rich, you have lovely cars, and jars full of flowers, and books in rows, and a wireless, and the best sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/if-you-are-rich-you-have-lovely-cars-and-jars-full-of-flowers-and/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [What with the reviews of critics, the sarcasms of one's friends, the reproaches of one's own taste, there's precious little peace after publishing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/what-with-the-reviews-of-critics-the-sarcasms-of-one-s-friends-the/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [If we haven't a grouch against Fortune, we seem unable to avoid one against ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/if-we-haven-t-a-grouch-against-fortune-we-seem-unable-to-avoid-one/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [The world, with all its beauty and adventure, its richness and variety, is darkened by cruelty. Death, if it ends the loveliness, the adventure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/the-world-with-all-its-beauty-and-adventure-its-richness-and-variety/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

[Explore all 64 Winifred Holtby quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

## More Havens quotes

> [It's a lot harder to play football when you haven't got the ball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gray/it-s-a-lot-harder-to-play-football-when-you-haven-t-got-the-ball/)

[Andy Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gray/)

> [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

> [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/)

[Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/)

> [We will also target tax evasion and off-shore tax havens... Everyone must pay their share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/we-will-also-target-tax-evasion-and-off-shore-tax-havens-everyone/)

[George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/)

> [I think the public doesn't understand that one of the reasons I haven't stood up for myself is because in order to do that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-broadwell/i-think-the-public-doesn-t-understand-that-one-of-the-reasons-i-haven/)

[Paula Broadwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-broadwell/)

> [If you feel like you want to die, it's time to sit down and make a list of all the things you haven't done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/if-you-feel-like-you-want-to-die-it-s-time-to-sit-down-and-make-a/)

[Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/)

> [It's been a long time since I asked anything of heaven, and my arms still haven't come down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/it-s-been-a-long-time-since-i-asked-anything-of-heaven-and-my-arms/)

[Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/)

> ["Natural" is a very dangerous word to use about sexuality ... Our society's notions of normality are completely fake and meta-trendy, since they rely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-bright/natural-is-a-very-dangerous-word-to-use-about-sexuality-our-society-s/)

[Susie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-bright/)

> [Sometimes I'll go for something more because of the story, or more because of the director. But, generally, I have to feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-pearce/sometimes-i-ll-go-for-something-more-because-of-the-story-or-more/)

[Guy Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-pearce/)

> [I sublet place to place with my fiancé. We don't really have a home. I haven't had a proper home for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-seimetz/i-sublet-place-to-place-with-my-fianc-we-don-t-really-have-a-home-i/)

[Amy Seimetz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-seimetz/)

> [I haven't used that word since I was 7 years old. I don't understand Donald Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-haven-t-used-that-word-since-i-was-7-years-old-i-don-t-understand/)

[Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/)

> [If you've never had a God-sized dream that scared you half to death, then you haven't really come to life. If you've never been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/if-you-ve-never-had-a-god-sized-dream-that-scared-you-half-to-death/)

[Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/)

> [Normally when people say they haven't decided, they're being polite but they're definitely not voting for you. I think it's different this time. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/normally-when-people-say-they-haven-t-decided-they-re-being-polite/)

[David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/)

> [You haven’t done anything wrong. You just haven’t done anything, and that’s what’s wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-feldman/you-haven-t-done-anything-wrong-you-just-haven-t-done-anything-and/)

[Ben Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-feldman/)

> [I haven't slept in days. And me and my latest girl agreed to go our separate ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/i-haven-t-slept-in-days-and-me-and-my-latest-girl-agreed-to-go-our/)

[Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/)

Browse all 2,797 Havens quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Winifred Holtby"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-use/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Havens"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-use/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/448/winifred-holtby-10595_havens_why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-u_3006091.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“why haven't we seventy lives? One is no use.” — Winifred Holtby",
                "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": "Winifred Holtby",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "why haven't we seventy lives? One...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-use/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/why-haven-t-we-seventy-lives-one-is-no-use/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
