Quote by George Santayana

Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape; a spirit with any honor is not willing to live except in its own way, and a spirit with any wisdom is not over-eager to live at all.

Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live o

Summary

This quote suggests that there is great value in living life authentically and on one's own terms. It criticizes the mindset of merely wanting to survive without considering the quality of one's existence. A person with honor and integrity refuses to compromise their values in order to simply continue living, while a wise individual understands that there is more to life than mere survival and does not cling desperately to it. It underscores the importance of living a fulfilling life rather than just merely existing.

Topics

Life

By George Santayana

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

He understood the tone of voice instinctively, as he always

He understood the tone of voice instinctively, as he always had; it was his greatest gift, to know emotions even better than the person feeling them.

Orson Scott Card

Emotions Gifts

Never wrestle with a strong man nor bring a rich man to cour

Never wrestle with a strong man nor bring a rich man to court.

Judgment Judging

No one's raising children any more. To love a child, you've

No one's raising children any more. To love a child, you've got to work for it. You have to change its diapers and feed it at night!

Work Change Love

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tom

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Dreams Inspirational Sweet

Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands

Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands the question.

Questions

Time was something that largely happened to other people; he

Time was something that largely happened to other people; he viewed it in the same way that people on the shore viewed the sea. It was big and it was out there, and sometimes it was an invigorating thing to dip a toe into, but you couldn't live in it all the time. Besides, it always made his skin wrinkle.

Terry Pratchett

Time

It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complai

It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.

Pessimism

I would also like to act, once in a while, but not get up ev

I would also like to act, once in a while, but not get up every morning at 5:30 or six o'clock and pound into the studio and get home at 7:30 or eight o'clock at night, or act over and over and over every night on Broadway, either.

Morning

It is a statistical fact that the wicked work harder to reac

It is a statistical fact that the wicked work harder to reach hell than the righteous do to enter heaven.

Evil

All men are created equal. It is what you do from there that

All men are created equal. It is what you do from there that makes the difference. We are all free agents in life. We make our own decisions. We control our own destiny.

Men Life Inspirational Destiny

When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, why, get up

When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, why, get up! If it knocks you to your knees again, as it will, well, isn't that the best position from which to pray?

Ethel Barrymore

Prayer

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choi

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Education