Happiness Or Meaning?

Mr Linderman: You see, I think there comes a time when a man has to ask himself whether he wants a life of happiness or a life of meaning.

Nathan Petrelli: I'd like to have both.

Mr Linderman: [Shakes head] It can't be done. Two very different paths. I mean, to be truly happy a man must live absolutely in the present, and with no thought of what's gone before, and no thought of what lies ahead. But a life of meaning, a man is condemned to wallow in the past, and obsess about the future.

Posted by Hg on Sunday 17 June 2007 at 16:10.
Received 6 comments so far.

I had to google the names to discover where the quotation is from. Having done so I am of course none the wiser. It's bollocks to imply that being present is also being without meaning. IMHO. Wouldn't you say?

Comment by rr on Sunday 17 June 2007 at 17:14.

Ah, do you watch Heroes too?

You won't be suprised to learn that I only watched it because Christopher Eccleston is in it.

Comment by Paul on Sunday 17 June 2007 at 23:10.

Rr - I guess it's a rather neat & tidy duality that doesn't quite match up to the complexity of real life. I don't think it's trying to say that a life lived in the present is without meaning; more that "meaning" requires context, which implies an attention to be paid to past & future that subverts the notion of living for the moment.

Paul - been watching it since the first episode and absolutely love it. For a while, it & Dr Who have been the only TV I've been watching. That new series Jeckyll on Saturday was superb too though, so I'm in the rare position of having three TV progs on the go. Still managing to avoid the lure of Big Brother, thank God.

Comment by Hg on Monday 18 June 2007 at 02:11.

Agh, no don't tell me Jeckyll was good. I decided to avoid watching it as I watch too much TV at present (and no that doesn't include Big Brother either) so I'd rather not know how good it is otherwise I'll end up watching that as well.

Comment by Paul on Monday 18 June 2007 at 16:11.

I watched Jeckyll on Hg's recommendation and thought it was hilarious and not in a good way.

Comment by Caroline on Monday 18 June 2007 at 22:30.

Thanks Caroline. Although now I want to watch it to see how funny it was ;)

Comment by Paul on Tuesday 19 June 2007 at 13:14.

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