the meaning of life

So when we die, we cease to exist. Does this mean life is meaningless because it is only temporary? Not really. Most valuable and meaningful things are only temporary. We do not regard a joyous occasion as pointless because it only lasts a day. Yet our very lives are a joyous occasion. By existing, and making of ourselves something good, we give ourselves and each other value, we create purpose and meaning. Neither existing by accident nor existing only a short while changes anything about the value of existing, the value of getting to be, to behold and to know the universe, to create something.

Meaning can be found in our own existence, the here and now, but also in our hopes and dreams for the future, and not just our future but the future of others. In the simplest terms, the meaning of life is a healthy mind in a healthy body, pursuing and manifesting what it can most deeply love; the creation of good works, and the society of good people, in a well-tended world. Anything less is ultimately self-destructive or unfulfilling, and generally a complete waste of time, especially given the brief opportunity for living afforded us. And if we want even more, if it is important to us that something good be eternal, then we can make this so of the good society, and contribute our necessary part to realizing that society and laying the seeds for its endless progress and renewal. We thereby give the greatest gift of all to countless other beings who will know the world after us.

-Richard Carrier
“Sense and Goodness Without God”