250 Life Quotes That Will Move You (Deeply)

Here are 250 of the best life quotes I could find. Hope you’ll find the inspiration you need to live a good and meaningful life. Enjoy!

Three things in life – your health, your mission, and the people you love. That’s it. Naval Ravikant

Change your thoughts and you change your world. Norman Vincent Peale

Life is from the inside out. When you shift on the inside, life shifts on the outside. Kamal Ravikant

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Bruce Lee (Graphics by Minimal Shades)

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. Theodore Roosevelt

Those who realize their folly are not true fools. Zhuangzi

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Søren Kierkegaard

It’s better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life. Elizabeth Kenny

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. Theodore Roosevelt

Life is a question and how we live it is our answer. Gary Keller

Difficult and meaningful will always bring more satisfaction than easy and meaningless. Maxime Lagacé

Keep looking up… that’s the secret of life. Snoopy

Life is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. Forrest Gump

The only way out is through. Robert Frost

It always seems impossible until it’s done. Nelson Mandela

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well. Jack London

Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments. Rose Kennedy

See also: inner peace quotes, the best quotes of all time, zen quotes

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Life Quotes Video

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30 Quotes For Your Life (Build A Strong Mind Today)

The Best Life Quotes

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Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing. Seneca

My life is my message. Mahatma Gandhi Click to tweet

Don’t gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold. Bob Marley

I love those who can smile in trouble. Leonardo da Vinci

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. Omar Khayyam

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. John Lennon

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius

Life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us then speak the truth. Arthur Schopenhauer

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln Click to tweet

You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching. William W. Purkey Click to tweet

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. William James

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. Elbert Hubbard

Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager. Susan Sontag

Don’t search for the meaning of life. Simply be present for the people you love. Maxime Lagacé

The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet. Gustave Flaubert

Your goal in life is to find out the people who need you the most, to find out the business that needs you the most, to find the project and the art that needs you the most. There is something out there just for you. Naval Ravikant

Sing the song that only you can sing, write the book that only you can write, build the product that only you can build… live the life that only you can live. Naval Ravikant

I tell you, in this world being a little crazy helps to keep you sane. Zsa Zsa Gabor

Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things. Kenneth Branagh

The trick in life is learning how to deal with it. Helen Mirren

Time means a lot to me because, you see, I, too, am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing and simplifying. If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. Bruce Lee

Get busy living or get busy dying. Stephen King Click to tweet

I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to. Jimi Hendrix

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. Oscar Wilde

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. Oscar Wilde

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Ludwig Jacobowski

See also: thought of the day

Part 2. Life Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Life Quotes (Einstein, Keller, Thoreau, etc.)

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Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Helen Keller Click to tweet

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. Henry David Thoreau

Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. St. Augustine

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. Mae West

The mind is everything. What you think you become. Buddha

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Lao Tzu

The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Steve Jobs

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify. Henry David Thoreau Click to tweet

The best way out is always through. Robert Frost

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. George S. Patton

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw

Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. Eleanor Roosevelt

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. Mark Twain

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Confucius

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. Albert Einstein

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Albert Einstein

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Babe Ruth

More famous quotes

You may also like: inspirational quotes motivational quotes love quotes happiness quotes

Inspirational Life Quotes

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Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet. Sarah Louise Delany

I’m always doing things I can’t do. That’s how I get to do them. Pablo Picasso Click to tweet

Relentlessly prune bullshit, don’t wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That’s what you do when life is short. Paul Graham

No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most. Naval Ravikant

Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest. Naval Ravikant

The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has been before. Albert Einstein

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life. T.S. Eliot

The purpose of life is to believe, to hope, and to strive. Indira Gandhi

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. Mother Teresa

Be willing to sacrifice what you think you have today for the life that you want tomorrow. Neil Strauss

The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. Tony Robbins

Your best life will not be found in comfort. It will be found in fighting for what you believe in. Maxime Lagacé

The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. Neil Gaiman (See also: writing quotes)

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. Maya Angelou

Doing is a quantum leap from imagining. Barbara Sher

Life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one’s will. Paul Gauguin

Be so good they can’t ignore you. Steve Martin Click to tweet

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Mary Engelbreit

The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. William James

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde

If you say you can or you can’t you are right either way. Henry Ford

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. Colin Powell

I am thankful to all who said no to me. It is because of them that I’m doing it myself. Albert Einstein

Uplifting Life Quotes (Some Will Make You Smile)

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Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius

The dreamers are the saviors of the world. James Allen Click to tweet

Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men! Epictetus

Remember: the more you expect things to be a certain way, the more disappointed you’ll be. Accept life as it is. You’ll be free. Maxime Lagacé

In the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer. Albert Camus

When you arise in the morning think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius

Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful. Thich Nhat Hanh

Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant. Paulo Coelho (Eleven Minutes)

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. Henry Miller

Every second you have on this planet is very precious and it’s your responsibility that you’re happy. Naval Ravikant

There is no education like adversity. Benjamin Disraeli

I will go anywhere as long as it’s forward. David Livingston

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. Walter Hagen

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. Emily Dickinson

You have just one life to live. It is yours. Own it, claim it, live it, do the best you can with it. Hillary Clinton

Most great people have attained their greatest success one step beyond their greatest failure. Napoleon Hill

In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity. Albert Einstein

Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best. H. Jackson Brown Jr.

May you live all the days of your life. Jonathan Swift

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness. Zhuangzi

Defeat is simply a signal to press onward. Helen Keller

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan

The first step is you have to say that you can. Will Smith (See also: How to Believe in Yourself, zenhabits.net)

Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. Dale Carnegie

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. Christopher Reeve

Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about. Marilyn Monroe

There is only one happiness in life – to love and to be loved. George Sand

Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way! Dr. Seuss

Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine. Mario Fernandez

More uplifting quotes

Funny Life Quotes (Some Will Surprise You)

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Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead. Charles Bukowski Click to tweet

Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand. Kurt Vonnegut

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. Albert Einstein

Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer. Ellen DeGeneres

All generalizations are false, including this one. Mark Twain

When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear. Mark Twain

If life is a video game, the graphics are great, but the plot is confusing and the tutorial is way too long. Elon Musk

When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye. Cathy Guisewite

Life is pain. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something. William Goldman

A woman’s mind is cleaner than a man’s: She changes it more often. Oliver Herford

I can resist everything except temptation. Oscar Wilde

The planet is fine. The people are fucked. George Carlin Click to tweet

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept. George Carlin

I love deadlines, I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. Douglas Adams

Never trust people who smile constantly. They’re either selling something or not very bright. Laurell K. Hamilton

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. Charles Schulz

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. Robert A Heinlein

If you’re too open-minded; your brains will fall out. Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes. Jim Carrey

What a kid I got, I told him about the birds and the bees and he told me about the butcher and my wife. Rodney Dangerfield

More funny quotes

Deep Life Quotes (Some Will Make You Think)

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Life is so short. I would rather sing one song than interpret the thousand. Jack London Click to tweet

Life is made of ever so many partings welded together. Charles Dickens

The flavor of life is on the edge. Naval Ravikant

We are evolved to search for meaning but ultimately life has none. Naval Ravikant

This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him. Arthur Schopenhauer

The shortness of life, so often lamented, may be the best thing about it. Arthur Schopenhauer

In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back. Charlie Brown

What gives meaning are challenges. A beautiful life is a meaningful. Say yes to challenges. Maxime Lagacé

Real education starts when you realize that life is wild and you know nothing about it. Maxime Lagacé

Nobody can predict the future; the idea is to have a firm grasp of the present. Peter F. Drucker

The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it. Carl Jung

We’re not meant to consume infinite news, porn and food. We live in an era of too much abundance. This is the modern struggle. There is so much of an abundance of cheap, fake, instant dopamine and meaning. How do you motivate yourself to do the real thing any more? Naval Ravikant

We no longer live life. We consume it. Vicki Robin (Your Money Or Your Life)

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive. Joseph Campbell

Happiness is not the surplus of pleasant over unpleasant moments. Rather happiness consists in seeing one’s life in its entirety as meaningful and worthwhile. Yuval Noah Harari

As Nietzsche put it, if you have a WHY to live, you can bear almost any “HOW”. A meaningful life can be extremely satisfying even in the midst of hardship whereas a meaningless life is a terrible ordeal no matter how comfortable it is. Yuval Noah Harari

The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest. Unknown

Life is a storm that will test you unceasingly. Don’t wait for calm waters that may not arrive. Derive purpose from resilience. Learn to sail the raging sea. Unknown

Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. Norman Cousins

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. Dr. Seuss (See also: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life, zenhabits.net)

If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself. Rick Riordan

Life is essentially an endless series of problems. The solution to one problem is merely the creation of the next one. Don’t hope for a life without problems. There’s no such thing. Instead, hope for a life full of good problems. Mark Manson

There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why. William Barclay

Life does not owe you anything because life has already given you everything. Ralph Marston

The day you stop racing, is the day you win the race. Bob Marley Click to tweet

Maybe that’s what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars. Jack Kerouac

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Thomas Szasz

What do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning. Charlie Chaplin

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Life Lessons And Simple Reminders

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Life’s too mysterious to take too serious. Mary Engelbreit Click to tweet

Nothing you do is going to matter that much in the long run. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Naval Ravikant

Most of life is about searching, it’s not about doing. People spend too much time doing and not thinking about what they should be doing. Naval Ravikant

Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. Maya Angelou

A little foolishness, enough to enjoy life, and a little wisdom to avoid the errors, that will do. Osho

When it hurts – observe. Life is trying to teach you something. Anita Krizzan

Too many people think life will be easy. Keep it mind that it will not and you’ll find peace of mind. Maxime Lagacé

You’re never wrong if you love and help people. Maxime Lagacé

The only beautiful path is the one you create. Maxime Lagacé

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner. Lao Tzu

If there’s a single lesson that life teaches us, it’s that wishing doesn’t make it so. Lev Grossman

We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking. Santosh Kalwar

In every success story, you will find someone who has made a courageous decision. Peter F. Drucker

Life is to enjoyed, not endured. Gordon Hinckley (See also: 11 Ways To Enjoy Life More, bustle.com)

Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular. Roy T. Bennett

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it. Ferris Bueller

A fear-oriented man is always calculating, planning, arranging, safeguarding. His whole life is lost in this way. Osho

See: it’s a never-ending upward spiral. And if you think at any point you’re allowed to stop climbing, I’m afraid you’re missing the point. Because the joy is in the climb itself. Mark Manson

Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual. We have so much fucking stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t even know what to give a fuck about anymore. Mark Manson

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions. Alfred Adler

If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed. Christopher McCandless (Into The Wild movie)

When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it. Christopher McCandless (Into The Wild movie)

Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create. Roy T. Bennett

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Alexander Pope (See also: gratitude quotes)

People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren’t already complicated enough. Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Rita Mae Brown

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. Dr. Seuss

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn. David Russell

You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. Oprah Winfrey Click to tweet

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. Lao Tzu

More words of wisdom

Part 3. What Is Life Exactly? The Best Authors Reveal It

What Is Life? By Alan Ball, Anais Nin, Bruce Lee, etc.

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Life is to entered upon with courage. Alexis de Tocqueville Click to tweet

It can be the scariest and most beautiful thing simultaneously. Maxime Lagacé

Life is a single player game. Naval Ravikant

Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest. Henry David Thoreau

Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises. Samuel Butler

Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process. Anne Wilson Schaef

Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present. Alan Watts

My life is my argument. Albert Schweitzer Click to tweet

Life is a mixing of all kind of things: comedy and tragedy going together. Alejandro Jodorowsky

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death. Anais Nin

Life is an ever-flowing process and somewhere on the path some unpleasant things will pop up – it might leave a scar, but then life is flowing, and like running water, when it stops it grows stale. Go bravely on, my friend, because each experience teaches us a lesson. Keep blasting because life is such that sometimes it is nice and sometimes it is not. Bruce Lee

Life is too mysterious to try to map it out. I’ve certainly lived long enough to know it will take you places you never thought it would take you – and some of those places are kind of wonderful. Alan Ball

Life is like a box of sardines and we are all looking for the key. Alan Bennett

Life is a gift, given in trust – like a child. Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Life is an illusion. I am held together in the nothingness by art. Anselm Kiefer

Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor. Benjamin Disraeli

Life is beautiful because it doesn’t last. Brit Marling

The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others. Albert Schweitzer

Reverence for life is the highest court of appeal. Albert Schweitzer

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives. Albert Schweitzer

Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier. Bruce Lee Click to tweet

By Carl Rogers, Helen Keller, Jiddu Krishnamurti, etc.

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Life is a lively process of becoming. Douglas MacArthur Click to tweet

Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. Carl Sandburg

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. Citium Zeno

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination. Carl Rogers

Life is just one damned thing after another. Elbert Hubbard

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations. George Bernard Shaw

My life is about ups and downs, great joys and great losses. Isabel Allende

Life is a long lesson in humility. James M. Barrie (See also: 8 Psychological Benefits of Being Humble, spring.org.uk)

Life is short. You have to be able to laugh at our pain or we never move on. Jeff Ross

Life is empty, and realizing that, we want to fill it, we are seeking – seeking ways and means, not only to fill this emptiness but also to find something that is not to be measured by man. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Our whole life is solving puzzles. Erno Rubik

Life is largely a matter of expectation. Homer

By John Banville, Marcus Aurelius, Woody Allen, etc.

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Life is tragic but it’s equally comic. John Banville Click to tweet

Life is hard. After all, it kills you. Katharine Hepburn

Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil. Marcus Aurelius

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. Leo Tolstoy

Life is a series of commas, not periods. Unknown

Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead. Morihei Ueshiba

Life is really a dance if you are original, and you are meant to be original. Osho

Life is not a problem. To look at it as a problem is to take a wrong step. It is a mystery to be lived, loved, experienced. Osho

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third. Marge Piercy Click to tweet

Life is a zoo in a jungle. Peter De Vries

Life is a continuous process of adjustment. Indira Gandhi

Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. Ralph Ellison

The joy of life consists in the inevitable, continual triumph of new values. Wassily Kandinsky

Life is a game and true love is a trophy. Rufus Wainwright

Life is available only in the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh (oprah.com)

Life is not an exact science, it is an art. Samuel Butler

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor. Sholom Aleichem

Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got. Tim Cook (Apple CEO)

Life is about learning; when you stop learning, you die. Tom Clancy

Life is lived on the edge. Will Smith

Take care, the next 2 quotes are hard ones (but true!)

Most of life is tragic. You’re born, you don’t know why. You’re here, you don’t know why. You go, you die. Your family dies. Your friends die. People suffer. People live in constant terror. The world is full of poverty and corruption and war and Nazis and tsunamis. The net result, the final count is, you lose – you don’t beat the house. Woody Allen

Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering – and it’s all over much too soon. Woody Allen

But it’s better to finish on a good note, right?

Only one life, that soon is past, only what’s done with love will last. Click to tweet

Better yet, jump to the Uplifting And Happy Life Quotes section.

Part 4. Conclusion

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A secret to life: Know that none of this matters, and yet… live as if every single moment does. Kamal Ravikant

Call to action: Read 12 Actionable Tips To De-Stress And Feel Happier Right Now (lifehack.org)