Dear sceptics: This shows the whole question of R&S ...Do you agree??

For many fundamentalist and fanatical religions like the JWs the quote is:

“If you despise the world and long for a future fantasy kingdom, you have no motive to truly live now.”

I have actually had a JW say to me as an argument for why it's good to refuse a life-saving blood transfusion with certain death in view:

"Why should I jeopardize my prospects of living forever in paradise, by trying to prolong my imperfect life in this old system of things".

This is the kind of dangerous, fanatical cult thinking that religions can foment. Religion gives people a reason to not live now, to not care for their health now, to not correct injustices now, to not care for the planet now, to not care for the disadvantaged now. The reason? Some form of utopian afterlife where/when all the current problems will be solved. Why try to help the disadvantaged now when you're convinced that your god will in future raise them up from the dead and provide for them abundantly? This is the kind of thinking that sees religious organizations like the JWs shamelessly refusing to provide practical charitable help en masse and labeling their distribution of religious propaganda as the greatest charity possible.

Dear sceptics, what Nietzsche said has no bearing on R&S at all. R&S is a conglomerate of disparate people from age 13 to 100+ putting in their tuppence-worth of questions and answer. They come from all over the world, and very few of them have any thoughts about either the why or the how of life. We have, for example, this recent question, "Can a 4ft11, weak 19 year old female learn Krav Maga?" Give me strength.

Those who do have thoughts about the why and the how of life are likely to be found in the Philosophy section, not the R&S one. So, I'm afraid I do not agree.

Its a great statement, but religion is not the only source of a "why" to live. In fact, religion teaches that the NEXT life will be better than this one. So the only reason to live (if you are a believer) is to get to the next life.

Isaiah 43:7 answers it.

True. It is enough. To have a purpose in life is enough.

Yes, another translation problem.

There was probably a sexual meaning (or sense of hope), but it didn't translate well.

All we have left is some (nearly) unbearable reality.

The whole question of R&S was lost a long time ago.

I agree. Nietzsche was a smart man, who realized that for some people, the only thing that kept them going was the idea of a religion.

The only time it really bothers me is when someone's purpose for living is to convert everyone else on the planet to their way of thinking.

Why guides you to how. My yoke is easy and my burden is light

A better saying about religion.

"If all you see is darkness, maybe it is time to pull your head out of your anus" - Faithless