Abstract
Some lives are more meaningful than others. Some lives are more important than
others. What is the relationship between meaning in life and importance? Because both can be
described as relating to significance, the two are often conflated. But these are rather different
concepts and the meaningful and the important can easily come apart. They do, however,
interact in important ways. When importance also meets the conditions for meaningfulness, it
amplifies it, and importance on a large scale is a key, and perhaps the only, source of
superlative meaningfulness. When contrasted with the quest for meaning, the desire for
importance can seem shallow and egocentric. But the desire to make an important
contribution reflects a legitimate existential concern. And, in their best form, both the desire
for importance, and that for meaningfulness, similarly combine outward-looking and self-regarding
aspects.