The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.

The line contrasts mere biological survival with a deeper, purpose-driven life. It suggests that the real “mystery” of being human is not how we continue breathing or endure hardship, but how we discover meaning—an aim, value, faith, love, duty, or calling—that makes endurance worthwhile. Read in a Dostoyevskian key, it aligns with his recurring preoccupation with spiritual and moral purpose: without a “why,” life collapses into despair, nihilism, or self-destruction; with one, suffering can be borne and even transformed. The quote’s enduring appeal comes from its existential clarity: it frames meaning not as a luxury but as the condition that turns living into life.