On purpose

"The life I live now is not a dress rehearsal for something greater afterwards; it empowers me to focus on the here and now. That is how I find meaning and purpose in what might seem a meaningless and purposeless existence; by concentrating on what I can do, and the differences I can make in the lives of those around me, in the short time that we have." - Dr. Buddhini Samarasinghe, molecular biologist

"We invent comforting lies to distract us from one simple truth: Oblivion looms. So, what are you going to do about it? I choose to live, laugh, love, travel, create, help others, and learn. And I'm going to do as much of this as I can manage, because the clock is ticking. We create our own meaning, and there's more than enough to be had. Seize it where you can." - Stephen Knight

"Because there is no 'right' answer to life, there are far fewer wrong answers--if you're doing something you love, and you aren't harming other people, you're basically on the right track. I find compassion in atheism: It makes me want to help people, because the idea that I stood by and watched someone's one shot at life go badly in a way I could have prevented makes me enormously sad. It's also why I reject the idea that atheism leads to a selfish mentality; it leads me to the feeling that we all have the same vanishingly short time to enjoy, so it's incumbent on us all to try to make society work for everyone." - Michael Marshall

"Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good. ... 

Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. ... 

Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us." - Pope Francis, today in his address to Congress