Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it.

What it means

These are Levin's closing thoughts in the novel. He knows he will still lose his temper and still argue, but his life now has meaning. The meaning is the good he chooses to put into it.

The source

"Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it." Leo Tolstoy said it in Anna Karenina, Part 8, ch. 19. Translated by Constance Garnett, 1901.

"but my life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but it has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it."

Constance Garnett, 1901, Anna Karenina, Part 8, ch. 19. Text read at gutenberg.org.

Who said it

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Russian novelist who wrote War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), then spent his later life on questions of faith and simple living.

Questions

What does "Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it." mean?

These are Levin's closing thoughts in the novel. He knows he will still lose his temper and still argue, but his life now has meaning. The meaning is the good he chooses to put into it.

Who said "Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it."?

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Source: Anna Karenina, Part 8, ch. 19.

What is the original wording?

but my life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but it has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it (Constance Garnett, 1901). Translated by Constance Garnett, 1901.

Is "Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it." on a shirt?

Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.

"Your life has the meaning of the good you put into it." (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part 8, ch. 19, trans. Constance Garnett, 1901). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/your-life-has-the-meaning-of-the-good