what is the purpose of life

To be Loved and to know Peace.

I am not an official Google answer person, but the purpose of life is
very simple; I wrote an article about it, and you can read it here:
http://e-gracenotes.org/article.php?id=38

I do hope it helps.

Warmest Regards,

Michael

Well, according to Monty Python it's nothing very special: try and be
nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then,
get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony
with people of all creeds and nations.

Hope I didn't spoil the ending of the movie for anybody... ;)

to exist

I find it puzzling that so many people ask immense questions like this
one on Google Answers, yet value the answer so little that they choose
a price of $2.

Everyone loves a bargain, Pink!

So maybe bargain-hunting is the purpose of life? :-D

Pink, those who ask two-dollar questions like this one are lonely
and/or bored and given to frivolous pursuits. Since they know they'll
never get an Answer, they're out only 50 cents for having been able to
interact with a few other human beings (who also have too much time on
their hands).

To propagate and carry on the existence of one's specie.

I'm not sure if this is a serious question but I will give a serious answer.

What does it mean for something to have a 'purpose'?  It means that
there is some intent behind it; my chair has a purpose which is for me
to sit on it, my food has a purpose which is for me to eat it etc. 
What you may notice about these things is that a 'purpose' can only
exist *for* someone, i.e. there has to be someone there to have an
intention, otherwise we cannot say that a thing has a purpose.  For
this reason the answer to the question 'What is the purpose of my
chair?' will depend on *whose* purpose we are asking for; the purpose
of the chair for the person who made it was to make money, and for my
cat may be to scratch its back, and for me it is to sit on it.

What follows from this is that when you ask the question 'What is the
purpose of life?' the question cannot be answered until you answer the
question 'For whom?'  Purposes are not things that exist independently
of intentions, which can be had by people, animals, or possibly
supernatural entities like gods.

If you believe in a god or other supernatural entities which you think
created you, then perhaps the question you are asking is 'What is my
purpose to him/them?' which may or may not be the same as asking 'Why
did he/they create me?'  To this question, the only answer can come
from your own religious beliefs; try reading the bible or the bhagavad
gita or praying for a while and maybe an answer will come to you.

If, however, your question is not a religious one, then the answer can
be many things.  Your purpose for others of course depends on your
relationship to them.  But I think the pertinent question is really
'What is the purpose of life *to me*?'  And as you may be able to
guess, because this purpose is your own purpose for yourself, it is
something you yourself must determine.

In other words, what is the purpose of life?  Whatever we make it. 
Any religious, spiritual or mythological beliefs aside, there is no
external measuring stick against which you can see if your life is
measuring up to 'the purpose'--because purposes do not exist
independently of intentions.  You simply have to decide for yourself
what you want your life to be, and then live it.

The purpose of life is to breed and maintain the species.  There is
nothing more, and nothing less.

We are all God?s children.  Before we came to this earth, we lived as
spirit children to our Heavenly Father.  We came to this earth to be
tested, tried, and proved?to see if we would keep God?s commandments. 
We are here to become more like God and to prepare to return to live
with Him again.  We received physical bodies.

For a better overview with links to much more information about our
purpose in life, go to:

http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,792-1,00.html

This is God?s restored church in the latter days.  God still has
prophets and apostles on the earth today?the same kinds of prophets as
Peter, James, and John.  God lives.  We all have a purpose in life,
and that purpose is to return to live with our Heavenly Father.