”The secret of life is to have a task,
something you devote your entire life to,
something you bring everything to,
every minute of the day for your whole life.
And the most important thing is–
it must be something you cannot possibly do!”British sculptor Henry Moore, when asked “What is the secret of life?” by NH poet Donald Hall, quoted in Life Work, (1993, just reissued)
For example, debugging 10 pages of C++?
July 23rd, 2003 · 4 Comments
Tags: Heroes and funny folks
4 responses so far ↓
1 Zoe // Jul 24, 2003 at 7:59 pm
Well, you need to combine that with a healthy degree of confidence that someone, somewhere can do it and it might as well be you. In this way we can all accomplish six impossible things before breakfast, let alone one impossible thing in our whole lives.
PS We’re coming through Boston on the evening of August 1st on our way up to NH – will you be up at the lake? We can have our own Corn Day…:-)
2 Elaine of Kalilily // Jul 26, 2003 at 7:56 pm
I remember hearing once that one needs two things to have a satisfying life: meaningful work and a meaningful relationship. (Maybe I’ve just reached a point in my life where the thought of Moore’s ultimate challenge just seems sooo exhausting.)
3 Betsy Devine // Jul 27, 2003 at 9:10 am
Elaine–Yeah, Moore seems to have forgotten the relationship part of happiness, probably because he was able to take it for granted. Zoita–I will be either in Cambridge or up at the lake on August 1, so give me a call! And one more life secret, this one supposedly from a ten year-old “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and a great big bag of money.”
4 Zoe // Jul 27, 2003 at 6:59 pm
If that’s from a 10 year-old, then I am an 8 ft. tall, pot-bellied, purple-eyed, green-bearded troll.
And we will be sure to give you a call, be you in Cambridge or at the lake :-)