Man must learn to know the universe precisely as it is, or he cannot successfully find his place in it. A man should therefore use his reasoning faculty in all matters involving truth, and especially as concerning his religion. He must learn to distinguish between truth and error.
Philosophers can debate the meaning of life, but you need a Lord who can declare the meaning of life.
Blessed are the doubters: for they shall not be easily fooled.
I never realized it was all a game,
until I started winning.
The satisfaction? The joy? That comes from solving problems and making things.
The Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is...42!
The alternative to pain may be worse. When you live with an open heart, you will inevitably get hurt. The alternative of living a life closed off from experience, however, is barren. Ironically, it also still involves suffering. In fearing pain, we already feel the pain from our fear.
Science may explain how humans came into being, but it has no answer to the slippery question of how humans should live. Only literature makes it possible to pose such questions in the first place. And if there is no answer, only literature can point to the impossibility of ever finding one.