To ask, every day, "What matters, in the end?" is to create the possibility of differentiated choice, the potential to overthrow the tyranny of our history, so as to honour something in us that has always been there, waiting for our courage.
— James Hollis
To ask, every day, "What matters, in the end?" is to create the possibility of differentiated choice, the potential to overthrow the tyranny of our history, so as to honour something in us that has always been there, waiting for our courage. — James Hollis
How, given the kinds of beings that we are, is it possible to live a meaningful life? Or more particularly, where are we to find the significant differences among the possible actions in our lives? For it is these differences that provide a basis for making decisions about who we are to be or become.
Sean Dorrance Kelly • All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age
The question is how we matter and evolve. Do we matter to others (who also don’t matter in the grand scope of things) or in some greater sense that we will never actually achieve? Or does it not matter if we matter so we should forget about the question and just enjoy our lives while they last?
Ray Dalio • Principles: Life and Work
The ability to ask this question—the question of what we ought to do with our time—is the basic condition for what I call spiritual freedom.
Martin Hägglund • This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom
James Hollis recommends asking of every significant decision in life: ‘Does this choice