It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted in the field without becoming part of an edifice.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A life without a great ideal is wasted, like a stone left unused in a field instead of built into a structure.
- In plain terms
- You need a big goal to make your life useful.
- What can you take from it?
- Dedicate your life to a meaningful ideal.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a life useful?
- Can small goals be great?
Another view
Not all valuable lives require a grand public ideal.
More from Jose Rizal
Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?
Permalink to quote #43 You must shatter the vase to spread its perfume, and smite the rock to get the spark.
Permalink to quote #45 There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.
Permalink to quote #42
Related quotes
I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each.
GeronimoGeronimo quote #2 It is only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have meaning.
P. D. OuspenskyP. D. Ouspensky quote #3 Life is Nothingness's search for Something.
Christian MorgensternChristian Morgenstern quote #3