we are born to die

Serenus: Where is the need to compose something to last for ages? Why not stop trying to prevent posterity from being silent about you? You were born to die, and a silent funeral is less bothersome. So if you must fill your time, write something in a simple style for your own use and not for publication: less toil is needed if you study only for the day.

Sisyphus: But isn't our toil the point? Putting effort into something that we value is what makes life worth living. If we arrange life so that there's no pain and struggle, what's left?

Serenus: Why do you need to struggle? You should enjoy the sunshine, a poem, a glass of wine…  Isn't that enough to live for? Why struggle unnecessarily? In the end, you die anyway, so why make yourself unhappy running back and forth in a meaningless frenzy?

Sisyphus: If that's how you feel, I don't see the difference between your life and a dog's life. Every day I push my boulder up the hill, and that's what makes me feel human. Of course I realize that everyone dies, so whatever we do might seem meaningless in the end. But I don't care about posterity and eternity - I'm living in the present. And right now, it's the struggle that counts! If I didn't have my boulder, I wouldn't be any different from a torpid mongrel enjoying the sunshine on a pretty day. 

Serenus: You have your boulder. I have a glass of wine and an amusing book. Any objective observer would say that my life is better than yours.

Sisyphus: I can't talk now. I have to push my boulder back up the hill.

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