"in the light of death, life has no real meaning. it is a joke--the tale of an idiot--signifying nothing."
2007-08-05 04:37:43 · 9 answers · asked by raven 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
It sounds like some existentialist philosophy which says we all live and act as if our life has meaning, but in the end we are all going to die. Therefore what's the purpose of our life's striving when we are going to die anyway? Is life some sort of idiotic joke?
For the existentialist life is like a long line of people chained together and at the end of the chain people are dying. The people in the line pay no attention to the dying at the end of the line, but each day their turn gets closer, and closer. Still the people carry on with their normal lives, smiling and laughing... Until some enlightened person takes note of what's happening and crys out at the madness.
2007-08-05 05:04:13 · answer #1 · answered by Dr. D 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The quote is from Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Act 5, Scene 5:
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
It can mean that life is like a bad play, and that a play is all it is, having nothing to do with reality - whatever you perceive reality to be :-)
2007-08-05 04:52:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The quote is from Shakespeare. It refers to the fact that when faced with imminenet death, lfe pretty much loses it's meaning, becoming "a tale told by an idiot>"
2007-08-05 04:47:00 · answer #3 · answered by fangtaiyang 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Simple death does not exist. One of my main beliefs.
You can not percieve nothing, you can only percieve while alive.
Just because you can not remember a life before this one, does not mean there was no life before the one you have now.
I don't see how life signifies nothing.
2007-08-05 04:42:49 · answer #4 · answered by Juefawn™ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My interpretation is that no matter how pretty, rich or successful one is, the end result is the same for all of us. Death. Death does not discriminate.
2007-08-05 04:52:10 · answer #5 · answered by wendy e 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That sounds like a long winded way of saying Life is short and has no meaning.
2007-08-05 04:41:30 · answer #6 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Like Deepak Chopra said, something like this: Our lifetime on earth is like a tiny atom compared to eternal life after we have left the earth.
2007-08-05 04:47:40 · answer #7 · answered by birdtennis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it means
that when death is in your path...and the journey has begun....
nothing else exists. only death. things that once existed that made you...you..and your life...your life.....have vanished.
it's like starting over. a whole new life and experience.
2007-08-05 04:44:07 · answer #8 · answered by b a 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Life is filled with what you want.
person who quoted this may be depressed.
Death is, of course, end.
2007-08-05 04:45:18 · answer #9 · answered by Muthu S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋