-i was far and away-riding my motorcycle along an american back road, skiing through the snowy Quebec woods, or lying awake in a backwater motel. the theme i was grappling with was nothing less than the Meaning of Life, and i was pretty sure i had defined it: love and respect.love and respect, love and respect-i have been carrying those words around with me for two years, daring to consider that perhaps they convey the real meaning of life. beyond basic survival needs, everybody wants to be loved and respected. and neither is any good without the other. love without respect can be as cold as pity; respect without love can be as grim as fear.love and respect are the values in life that most contribute to the pursuit of happiness-and after, they are the greatest legacy we can leave behind. it's an elegy you'd like to hear with your own ears: you were loved and respected.if even one person can say that about you, it's a worthy achievement, and if you can multiply that many times-well, that is true success.among materialists, a certain bumper sticker is emblematic: he who dies with the most toys wins!well, no-he or she who dies with the most love and respect wins...then there's love and respect for oneself-equally hard to achieve and maintain. most of us, deep down, are not as proud of ourselves as we might pretend, and the goal of bettering ourselves-at least partly by earning the love and respect of others-is a lifelong struggle.Philo of Alexandria gave us that generous principle that we have somehow succeeded in mostly ignoring for 2,000 years: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
~ Neil Peart
