Death is better than not living?

Here are two great quotes to get you out of bed in the morning!

“I would rather be ashes than dust,

I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleep and permanent planet.

The proper function of a man [or woman] is to live, not to exist.

I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.

I shall use my time.”

Jack London, from his “Tales of Adventure.”

It puts me in mind of another famous quote:

“One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.”

— Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist.

There is actually a similar quote from Walter Scott, less often heard:

One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum, in which men steal through existence, like sluggish waters through a marsh, without either honor or observation.

It’s true; these are stirring words. But remember they didn’t have the anti-aging science we have today and the ability to live longer and longer.

I like the meteor burning out metaphor… but not before my time!