Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that?
—Marie Curie, 1937
Life is easier to take that you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do
without indispensable, and bear the intolerable.
—Kathleen Norris, 1928
***
Life is a hospital where each patient is possessed by the desire to change his bed.
—Charles Baudelaire, 1862
Life is like a department store: it has everything but what you are looking for.
—Emil Krotky, 1966
Life is a zoo in a jungle.
—Peter De Vries, 1967
Life is a sexually transmitted disease.
—Anonymous
9
Life is not an exact science, it is an art.
—Samuel Butler, 1912
Life is something that everyone should try at least once.
—Henry J. Tillman, 2009
In spite of the cost of living, it’s still popular.
—Laurence J. Peter, 1977
10
Life is a long lesson in humility.
—J. M. Barrie, 1891
***
This life is a test – it is only a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have received
further instructions on where to go and what to do.
—Jack Kornfield, 1993
11
Life can only be understood backwards. But […] it must be lived forwards.
—Søren Kierkegaard, 1844
Life is fired at us point-blank.
—José Ortega y Gasset, 1957
9
To this joke, popular at least since 1980, R. D. Laing added (in 1985): “…with the 100%
mortality rate”.
10
Sometimes misattributed to Kathleen Norris.
11
I have seen claims that this joke had been used by others earlier than 1993, but was unable to
confirm them.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
201
—Marie Curie, 1937
Life is easier to take that you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do
without indispensable, and bear the intolerable.
—Kathleen Norris, 1928
***
Life is a hospital where each patient is possessed by the desire to change his bed.
—Charles Baudelaire, 1862
Life is like a department store: it has everything but what you are looking for.
—Emil Krotky, 1966
Life is a zoo in a jungle.
—Peter De Vries, 1967
Life is a sexually transmitted disease.
—Anonymous
9
Life is not an exact science, it is an art.
—Samuel Butler, 1912
Life is something that everyone should try at least once.
—Henry J. Tillman, 2009
In spite of the cost of living, it’s still popular.
—Laurence J. Peter, 1977
10
Life is a long lesson in humility.
—J. M. Barrie, 1891
***
This life is a test – it is only a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have received
further instructions on where to go and what to do.
—Jack Kornfield, 1993
11
Life can only be understood backwards. But […] it must be lived forwards.
—Søren Kierkegaard, 1844
Life is fired at us point-blank.
—José Ortega y Gasset, 1957
9
To this joke, popular at least since 1980, R. D. Laing added (in 1985): “…with the 100%
mortality rate”.
10
Sometimes misattributed to Kathleen Norris.
11
I have seen claims that this joke had been used by others earlier than 1993, but was unable to
confirm them.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
201