Why Live?

Celine Leboeuf, Ph.D.
11 min readAug 22, 2021

The Three Authors Who Saved Me During an Existential Crisis

Skull and Hourglass by Christian Albrecht Jensen
Skull and Hourglass by Christian Albrecht Jensen

“Stench and worms.”

To use Leo Tolstoy’s words in A Confession, that’s what will become of us all after death. We toil through life. Our actions will inevitably come to an end. And all memory of us will eventually disappear. So, what’s the point of going on in the first place? Why do anything at all? Why live?

--

--

Celine Leboeuf, Ph.D.

I’m a professor at Florida International University. I love applying philosophy to everyday life—and inspiring others to do the same! www.ccleboeuf.com