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"life is an absurd circus; we're all clowns trying to amuse ourselves in the face of inevitable death and meaninglessness"

This is full of win. I will soon annoy everyone I know with this new mantra. Thanks!

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It works remarkably well in almost all conditions except in cases of human tragedy. Then it's usually more tasteful/appropriate to be sensitive. (But if you're willing to go there, you could say that seeking pleasure, seeking love, seeking glory, etc are all variations of self-amusement/utility-seeking.)

(Of course, anything that explains everything explains nothing, but fundamentally the point is that life is absurd, and we'll have to acknowledge that- I think it was Albert Camus who wrote extensively about it in The Myth Of Sisyphus.)