No man loves life like him that’s growing old.
23
—Sophocles, fifth century BC
Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore,
So do our minutes, hasten to their end.
—William Shakespeare, 1609
***
If thou wouldest win Immortality of Name, either do things worth the writing, or write
things worth the reading.
—Thomas Fuller, 1727
24
Seek not, my soul, immortal life, but make the most of the resources that are within your
reach.
—Pindar, 498 BC
Reason is immortal.
—Pythagoras
25
Immortality is to labor at an eternal task.
—Ernest Renan, 1890
If you want immortality, make it!
—Joaquin Miller, 1908
Since man is mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind
him that is immortal.
—William Faulkner, 1958
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1975
***
[French chemists Auguste Laurent and Charles Frédéric Gerhardt] died, ignored by most;
they never sought nor found public favor, for high roads never lead there.
—Le Moniteur Scientifique Du Docteur Quesneville (editorial), 1862
Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves
a monument in the minds and memories of men.
—William Hazlitt, 1823
23
A much later similar confession by Frank Lloyd Wright is also popular.
24
Frequently misattributed to Benjamin Franklin, who just paraphrased it (in 1738) in his Poor
Richard’s Almanac.
25
First quoted by Diogenes Laërtius in the third century AD.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
207
23
—Sophocles, fifth century BC
Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore,
So do our minutes, hasten to their end.
—William Shakespeare, 1609
***
If thou wouldest win Immortality of Name, either do things worth the writing, or write
things worth the reading.
—Thomas Fuller, 1727
24
Seek not, my soul, immortal life, but make the most of the resources that are within your
reach.
—Pindar, 498 BC
Reason is immortal.
—Pythagoras
25
Immortality is to labor at an eternal task.
—Ernest Renan, 1890
If you want immortality, make it!
—Joaquin Miller, 1908
Since man is mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind
him that is immortal.
—William Faulkner, 1958
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1975
***
[French chemists Auguste Laurent and Charles Frédéric Gerhardt] died, ignored by most;
they never sought nor found public favor, for high roads never lead there.
—Le Moniteur Scientifique Du Docteur Quesneville (editorial), 1862
Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves
a monument in the minds and memories of men.
—William Hazlitt, 1823
23
A much later similar confession by Frank Lloyd Wright is also popular.
24
Frequently misattributed to Benjamin Franklin, who just paraphrased it (in 1738) in his Poor
Richard’s Almanac.
25
First quoted by Diogenes Laërtius in the third century AD.
On the World and Time, Life and Death
207