What does this quotation means? The greatest drama in life is the struggle to surrender the person he is to the person he ought to be

Question

The greatest drama in persons life is the struggle to surrender the person he is to the person he ought to be.

Answer 1

The essence of the question posits the constant clash between one's inherent being and how one is expected to be by laws and society as a whole. Someone's impulses being followed might be the best course of action for that person's satisfaction but they must nonetheless struggle to do what is correct. The application of the quote can take many forms but think of every kind of situation where you want to do one thing but must do another. For instance, you may want to play games or read instead of doing an assignment but you know that you have to do the assignment in order to reach your goals.

More applicably, someone may have certain dreams or aspirations but may have to surrender these in order to do what must be done in the moment. This quote addresses the battle between doing what you want to do and doing what must be done considering that the two are sometimes (possibly often) not the same thing. Please message me if you need further explanation :D

Answer 2

In its literal sense, the quote can be interpreted as one's effort to become a better person or a note that molding into the desired quality is not an easy task. However, the quote has a few interesting words that suggest layers of meaning. Of these, we can pick out "drama", "struggle", and "ought to". The use of struggle instead of other words of similar essence, such as achievement, goal, pursuit ..., tells us that the quote emphasizes the complexity of life's happenings. As drama is formulated by multiple contributors, the greatest things in life are also not of the sole production of a person. This is supported more by the use of "struggle", which pinpoints that it is a rocky ride–swaying from sensibility to loss of grip. On the final note, "ought to" is a special diction that further complicates the quote since it brings the question of why should, must, need ... are not used instead. The reason is ought is a less forgiving commitment and suggests a willingness burdened by hindering factors.

Altogether, the quote means the drama of life is the win and loss of the complex personal growth one experiences. The journey, as in a dramatic performance, is as worthy as the achievement, and, in fact, the achievement may be less determinant than the process. Like a dramatic performance, a person takes a role every day and flips through acts. In this process, he distinguishes his caliber of values, and so aspire to be a character that expresses this value. Yet, as growth is continual, the caliber may be ever-shifting, so the person is let to "ought to be" the perfections he seeks. In the process, life at its greatest has happened.