“To live is to struggle, and to struggle is to be wounded and to keep on.”
— Miguel de Unamuno[commonly attributed] Commonly cited aphorism widely attributed to Unamuno; source not identified
Commentary
This aphorism expresses the heroic ethic that Unamuno celebrated in his essays and novels, in which the value of life lies in the effort to resist annihilation rather than in the attainment of certainty. The wound and the continuation of the struggle describe the condition of a self that acts without guarantees. Paul Ilie (1967) identifies this ethic as central to Unamuno's existentialism, which valorises courage in the face of doubt. Colin Smith's study (1968) notes the affinity with Don Quixote, whose defiance of defeat Unamuno interpreted as a model of human life. The aphorism is widely quoted, but its source is not secure, and it is recorded as a commonly attributed formulation.
Commentary
This aphorism expresses the heroic ethic that Unamuno celebrated in his essays and novels, in which the value of life lies in the effort to resist annihilation rather than in the attainment of certainty. The wound and the continuation of the struggle describe the condition of a self that acts without guarantees. Paul Ilie (1967) identifies this ethic as central to Unamuno's existentialism, which valorises courage in the face of doubt. Colin Smith's study (1968) notes the affinity with Don Quixote, whose defiance of defeat Unamuno interpreted as a model of human life. The aphorism is widely quoted, but its source is not secure, and it is recorded as a commonly attributed formulation.