Living properly means seeking ever-greater likeness to God

Evidence

I understood that I had erred, and how I had erred. I had erred, not so much through having thought incorrectly, as through having lived ill. — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 155 (#expands, via linked claim)

As he put it, the argument is as follows: We define ‘God’ as the greatest possible object of thought. Now if an object of thought does not exist, another, exactly like it, which does exist, is greater. Therefore the greatest of all objects of thought must exist, since, otherwise, another, still greater, would be possible. Therefore God exists. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1601 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Living morally reveals deeper truths about life and existence. — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 155; Anselm defines God as the greatest possible object of thought. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1601; Human reality is the pure effort to become God, desire being its expression — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1348

Related

• Living morally reveals deeper truths about life and existence. (similarity 0.85)
• Living rightly means striving to become ever more like God (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Living morally reveals deeper truths about life and existence. #expands (0.50) — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 155
• Anselm defines God as the greatest possible object of thought. #expands (0.40) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1601