Finding Meaning in Life's Suffering: Life Lessons and Life Hacks from The Last of Us

01The Last of Us: the game and the show

The Last of Us is a work of fiction. The video game, made by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3, came out on 14 June 2013, and BAFTA credited its story to Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson played Joel and Ellie in the game and in its sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which followed in 2020. HBO’s television series, co-created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, began on 15 January 2023, with Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.

The story is the same in both. After a fungal infection has wrecked the world, Joel, a hardened survivor who has lost his daughter Sarah, has to take Ellie, who is immune, across a ruined United States to a group called the Fireflies.

Every line of dialogue on this page is credited to the character who says it and to the game or the show. The lessons are our reading of a story, not advice.

02Life Lessons and Life Hacks from “The Last of Us”

Each lesson below says what happens in the story, what we take from it, and one way to use it.

Lesson 1: Always be prepared for the worst

In the story. Joel’s job is to get Ellie across the country “all while dodging clickers, bandits and all sorts of danger”, as Variety put it when the series’ release date was announced.

One way to use it. A written plan for an emergency at home is the ordinary version. The US government’s Ready.gov, for example, suggests working out how you will “contact one another and reconnect if separated” and agreeing on “a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find”.

Lesson 2: Trust your instincts

In the story. The story’s biggest decision comes at the Fireflies’ hospital, where, in The Ringer’s words, “everything unfolds (and unravels) quickly”.

Our reading. Instinct is worth more in some places than others. The psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein concluded in 2009 that judging an intuition means looking at “the predictability of the environment in which the judgment is made” and at the person’s “opportunity to learn the regularities of that environment”. They add that “subjective experience is not a reliable indicator of judgment accuracy”: feeling sure is not the same as being right.

One way to use it. Before acting on a gut feeling, ask whether you have done this often, with quick feedback on whether you got it right.

Lesson 3: Never give up

In the story. In the game’s final scene, just before Ellie asks him to swear that what he told her about the Fireflies is true, Joel tells her that he struggled a long time with surviving, and that she, no matter what, keeps finding something to fight for. Transcriptions of the exact wording differ, so it is paraphrased here.

Our reading. The point is less about toughness than about having something to fight for.

One way to use it. Small goals you can finish are one way to keep moving when big ones stall. There is more on keeping going in Motivation vs Discipline.

Lesson 4: Find meaning in suffering

In the story. When Joel suggests turning back and going to his brother Tommy’s instead, Ellie refuses:

“After all we’ve been through. I mean, everything that I’ve done. It can’t be for nothing.” — Ellie, The Last of Us (2013 game), as transcribed on IMDb

Our reading. This is the story’s central claim, and the one to hold loosely. Suffering does not come with meaning attached; people tend to build it afterwards, if they look for it.

One way to use it. Writing down what happened, and what you made of it, is one way to do that looking.

Lesson 5: Learn to let go

In the story. For much of the journey Joel will not talk about Sarah: in the series’ sixth episode he shuts Ellie down as soon as she mentions her. In the final episode, The Ringer’s recap notes, Joel and Ellie “discuss his daughter freely”, and “it’s clear that Joel is no longer repressing his past”.

One way to use it. Epictetus opens his Enchiridion by separating the things “within our power” from those “beyond our power”; there is more on that in Stoicism.

Lesson 6: Value your relationships

In the story. By the end, in The Ringer’s words, “Ellie is Joel’s surrogate daughter”.

One way to use it. Setting aside regular time for the people who matter, and being fully present for it, is the plain version.

Lesson 7: Embrace change

In the story. Nothing in Joel and Ellie’s journey stays the same for long; they cross the country, from one place and set of dangers to the next.

One way to use it. A short list of things you have wanted to try, started with the smallest, makes change something you choose rather than something that only happens to you.

Lesson 8: Face your fears

In the story. The game is full of things to be afraid of: the infected, and human enemies that include, in Tech Digest’s description, “military forces on the lookout for the runaways” and “scavengers”.

One way to use it. Taking on a fear a step at a time, starting small, is the everyday version. If a fear is affecting your life, the UK’s NHS suggests seeing a GP; it lists talking therapies “such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)” among the treatments for phobias. There is more on fear, from a different angle, in Conquer Your Fears.

Lesson 9: Be resourceful

In the story. The game makes resourcefulness the way you play. A 2013 review in Tech Digest says Joel and Ellie “will constantly be scavenging, always on the verge of running out of ammunition”, and that “scavenging parts littered around levels will let Joel craft new projectiles”.

One way to use it. When a problem is stuck, list several ways round it before choosing one.

Lesson 10: Cherish the simple things

In the story. Near the end, Joel and Ellie come across a group of giraffes grazing, which The Ringer calls “one of the game’s most timeless and uplifting scenes”.

One way to use it. Noticing, each day, a few things you are glad of is a small habit with the same idea behind it.

Be prepared for the worstAgree how to reconnect and where to meet in an emergency.

Trust your instinctsAsk whether you have practised this, with quick feedback.

Find meaning in sufferingWrite down what happened and what you made of it.

Value your relationshipsSet aside regular time for the people who matter.

Face your fearsStart small; the NHS suggests a GP if a phobia is affecting your life.

Cherish the simple thingsNotice a few things you are glad of each day.

Every lesson is drawn from a work of fiction: The Last of Us (Naughty Dog, 2013; HBO, 2023).

03Finding Meaning in Life’s Suffering

Our reading. The ending complicates every lesson above. At the Fireflies’ hospital, Joel learns that the surgery meant to lead to a cure “will kill her in the process”, in The Ringer’s summary. He kills the Fireflies to save her, then tells Ellie what The Ringer calls an “improbable tale of many immune survivors” and of doctors who had given up on a cure. When she asks him to “swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true”, he does. The story does not say whether he was right, and it leaves that judgement to the player and the viewer.

“Endure and survive.”

It is not Joel’s motto; in the game he only repeats it back to Ellie as a question. It is the catchphrase of Savage Starlight, the comic series Ellie reads in the game (“It’s what the hero says after a big battle”), and in the HBO series Sam teaches Ellie the sign-language actions for it.

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If you are struggling or thinking about suicide, please reach out now. findahelpline.com lists free, confidential helplines worldwide. In the US and Canada, call or text 988. In the UK and Ireland, call Samaritans on 116 123. In Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. In India, call Tele-MANAS on 14416. In the Philippines, call the National Center for Mental Health crisis line on 1800-1888-1553 (or 1553 from a Luzon landline). If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

How we checked this · Last checked September 2026

• Release dates, credits and plot points come from the sources listed below.
• The game's dialogue is quoted from a user transcription, and one line whose transcriptions disagree is paraphrased.

Checked September 2026. Release dates, credits and plot points are from the sources above. The game’s dialogue is quoted from a user transcription, and one line whose transcriptions disagree is paraphrased.

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04Sources