Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
An aim in life is the only fortune worth the finding; and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true treasure in life is having purpose, which comes from within rather than from external pursuits.
This quote emphasizes that the most valuable aspect of life is having a meaningful goal or aim, which can only be discovered through introspection and self-awareness. It suggests that external achievements or possessions cannot provide true fulfillment; instead, one must look inward to find what truly matters and drives them.
Themes
PurposeSelf-DiscoveryInternalLife-GoalsFortune
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker might use this quote to encourage young adults to find their passions.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes βLike a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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Americans have discovered the fragility of life, that ominous fragility that the rest of the world either already experienced or is experiencing now with terrible intensity.
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This is what youth must figure out: Girls, love, and living. The having, the not having, The spending and giving, And the meloncholy time of not knowing. This is what age must learn about: The ABC of dying. The going, yet not going, The loving and leaving, And the unbearable knowing and knowing
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And I can't be running back and fourth forever between grief and high delight.
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David Foster WallaceRead