What's the difference between living and being alive?

[Avocado]

Be yourself.

Unless you can be Batman.

Then always be Batman.

...or a pansexual furry.

[Lark]

...or a pansexual furry.

Erm, nope.

Not even close.

[Avocado]

Erm, nope.

Not even close.

....or an atheist antitheist!

[Coriolis]

living is dominating your enemies and being the wealthiest person you know.

being alive is surviving at the mercy of your enemies and/or living in poverty.

The latter is simply existing. The former is not much better since the focus is so narrow and ignorant of the consequences.

[Fluffywolf]

Voicing what's been said and adding my two cents.

In technical terms, one is a constantly changing variable while the other is a state of being.

Being alive is a matter of course, living is where the interesting stuff happens though.

[Avocado]

The latter is simply existing. The former is not much better since the focus is so narrow and ignorant of the consequences.

You either control others or they control you. If you don’t take what your neighbor has, they will take what you have. You have to do to others before they do to you. We live in a dog eat dog world. Eat others or be eaten.

I try to instill a certain ruthlessness and individualism into my children because I don’t want them to be taken advantage of or to join a cult that will make them sacrifice their joy for conformity.