Some time ago now I came to realize that how we define particular words - success, happiness, love, etc - can have a major impact on the way in which we live our life. One term that I hear thrown around often is "good life", eg "he lived a good life" . But what is a good life exactly? This term will mean different things to different people, and yet I believe there are some ingredients that all "good lives" share. Here are a some of these ingredients:
Living without fear
Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live. - Dorothy Thompson
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain
Being present in the moment
Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. - Corita Kent
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. - Oscar Wilde
Gratefulness
Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy - because we will always want to have something else or something more. - Brother David Steindl-Rast
Love
Love doesn't make the world go'round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile. - Franklin P. Jones
Life is the flower for which love is the honey. - Victor Hugo
A life lived for others
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill
Squeezing the most out of our time
And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln
We get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless. - Paul Bowles
Living with purpose
The purpose of life is a life of purpose. - Robert Byrne
Acceptance that life will bring sadness
There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. - Carl Jung
Not taking life too seriously
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. - Elbert Hubbard
Do you have a quote that you would like to share? Or perhaps even your own definition of what a "good life" is? Please share it in the comments below…
相关单词：define
define解释：vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定
define例句：
Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。
相关单词：impact
impact解释：n.冲击，碰撞；影响；vt.装紧，压紧
impact例句：
The computer had made a great impact on modern life.计算机对现代生活产生了巨大的影响.
How will the war impact on such a poet?战争对这样一个诗人会产生什么影响？
相关单词：ingredients
ingredients解释：n.（混合物的）组成部分( ingredient的名词复数 )；（烹调的）原料；（构成）要素；因素
ingredients例句：
All ingredients are readily available from your local store. 所有的原料都可以方便地从你当地的商店买到。
We never use second quality ingredients to build building. 我们决不使用次等材料用于建筑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：harbor
harbor解释：n.海港，港口；vt.庇护，藏匿；心怀(怨恨等)
harbor例句：
The harbor lies to the south of the city.港口在城市的南边。
At that time,our ship was tied up at this harbor.当时我们的船停靠在这个港口。
相关单词：succession
succession解释：n.连续，一连串，一系列；v.接替，继任
succession例句：
He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
His succession as headmaster was not in any doubt.他继任校长是确定无疑的。
相关单词：squeezing
squeezing解释：挤压； 轧水
squeezing例句：
We were drying our clothes by squeezing. 我们把衣服拧干。
He had a hard time squeezing through the crowd to get up to the platform. 他好不容易才挤到台前。
相关单词：conceive
conceive解释：vt.设想，构想，怀孕，受（孕）
conceive例句：
You may conceive a new world in the atomic age.你可以设想出原子时代的新世界。
I can hardly conceive of your doing such a thing.我很难想象你会做出这种事情。
相关单词：acceptance
acceptance解释：n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可
acceptance例句：
The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。
相关单词：definition
definition解释：n.定义；限定，确定；清晰度
definition例句：
The book attempts a definition of his role in world politics.该书要阐明的是他在世界政局中的作用。
I made a definition for this word.我给这个字下了定义。
