being

The mode of being has as its prerequisites independence, freedom, and the presence of critical reason. Its fundamental characteristic is that of being active, not in the sense of outward activity, of busyness, but of inner activity, the productive use of our human powers. To be active means to give expression to one’s faculties, talents, to the wealth of human gifts with which―though in varying degrees―every human being is endowed. It means to renew oneself, to grow, to flow out, to love, to transcend the prison of one’s isolated ego, to be interested, to „list,“ to give. Yet none of these experiences can be fully expressed in words. ― (1976a: To Have Or to Be?, New York (Harper and Row) 1976, p. 88.)