“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well
that Death will tremble to take us.” The quest to understand the
meaning of life has haunted humanity since the dawn of
existence. Modern history alone has given us a plethora of
attempted answers, including ones from Steve Jobs, Stanley
Kubrick, David Foster Wallace, Anais Nin, Ray Bradbury, and
Jackson Pollock’s dad. In 1988, the editors of LIFE magazine
posed this grand question head-on to 300 “wise men and women,”
from celebrated authors, actors, and artists to global spiritual
leaders to everyday farmers, barbers, and welfare mothers. In
1991, they collected the results, along with a selection of
striking black-and-white photographs from the magazine’s
archives that answered the question visually and abstractly, in
The Meaning of Life: Reflections in Words and Pictures on Why We
Are Here (public library). Here is a selection of the answers.
Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard: We are here to witness the
creation and abet it. We are here to noti