Hunter s thompson letter to biographies

In 1958, a 20-year-old Hunter S. Thompson had a friend who was struggling to find meaning and purpose in life.

Thompson wrote a letter to that friend (as featured in Shaun Usher’s Letters of Note), brilliantly articulating a lesson that can be derived from a wide range of philosophies, from Buddhism to existentialism.

That lesson is this: to live meaningfully, don’t chase fixed, pre-given goals; instead, seek to cultivate a particular way of life…

But what does this really mean?

What way of life should I seek to cultivate?

Hunter s thompson letter to biographies

And why should I prioritize this over the achievement of goals?

After beginning with the disclaimer that “all advice can only be a product of the person who gives it,” Thompson explains:

Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience.

As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learn