To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life.

Coren’s aphorism skewers a familiar human tendency: the way a sense of being wronged can become energizing, even identity-forming. A “grievance” supplies narrative structure (someone did something; I must respond), moral clarity (I am in the right), and a ready-made mission (to complain, correct, retaliate, or seek recognition). The joke lands because it is uncomfortably plausible—people and institutions can cling to resentments because they provide meaning and momentum when other purposes feel vague. Read more broadly, it’s a caution against letting indignation substitute for constructive aims, while also acknowledging how powerful grievance can be as a motivator in personal and public life.