The Moral Vision
The Purpose of Life
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form of happiness and luxury in this world. Thus he
is driven on to do more than just seek a livelihood;
he desires to earn to a degree greatly in excess of his
actual requirements.
In bustling markets, grandiose offices, and opulent
buildings, he is not really guided by deliberate
thought. Rather, he is being guided by inflated
ideas of his own needs, desires, longings and
ambitions to achieve fame and high status in this
world. For this reason these activities cannot be
considered as being directed towards the purpose
which sets man apart from the animal and lends
him a higher distinction.
Man’s greater dignity can be based only on a
purpose which emanates from inner desires and
pressures of environment. Man’s true purpose in
life can only be to seek the pleasure of God. When
man seeks the pleasure of his Lord, his human
qualities find full manifestation. This is a purpose
loftier than the one towards which an animal directs
its energies. It distinguishes man from animals. It is
the ultimate station of human dignity.
