We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life.

The line frames life as fundamentally contributive rather than acquisitive: our proper measure is what we give—service, knowledge, care, or improvement—rather than what we extract in comfort, status, or possessions. Attributed to physician-humanist William Osler, it resonates with professional ethics in medicine and public service, where vocation is understood as stewardship of skill for others’ benefit. The aphorism also functions as a corrective to self-centered ambition, urging a shift from entitlement to responsibility. Its enduring appeal lies in its plain antithesis (“add” vs. “get”), which makes a moral philosophy memorable and easily transferable beyond its likely professional setting.

1) "We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from it."
2) "We are here to add to life, not to get from life."