Poemander

Respect nothing except for the fact of existence. Respect no age, respect no title, no accolade, no achievement – these are all phony. The fact of existence is the only thing out there deserving respect. To exist is to have a meaning or to be meaningful – nothing exists without a meaning and there is not a living thing in this world of a lesser or greater meaningfulness. The meaning of existence is not in the privilege to exist, not in a general right to be, but in a very specific claim, a claim on one and the same substance- beauty. Beauty is the overarching meaning of existence.

Eyes see the flower but not the beauty, ears hear the melody but not the beauty. The beauty of existence is in the seeds that will grow into flowers, it is in the fingers of a musician that are about to touch the string, the beauty is in intent, the beauty is in potential. The greatest, and possibly the only moral duty, and hence the purpose of any living being, is to prolong this beauty, propagate the beginning, propagate the intent. This is a prime meaning of life, nothing else.