Quote

That's a central part of philosophy, of ethics. What do I owe to strangers? What do I owe to my family? What is it to live a good life? Those are questions which we face as individuals.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Religion, like water, may be free, but when they pipe it to you, you've got to help pay for piping. And the Piper!

Life is essentially a question of values.

I have a calling in my soul, if you like, to try to make my life in some way worthwhile. What is the value of my existence?

There are four questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.

What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself.

Do you know the only value life has is what life puts on itself?

Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much can you endure and not be spoiled.

Inner-life questions are the kind everyone asks, with or without benefit of God-talk: 'Does my life have meaning and purpose?' 'Do I have gifts that the world wants and needs?' 'Whom and what shall I serve?' 'Whom and what can I trust?' 'How can I rise above my fears?'