I Shall Not Waste My Days…

In some moving lines Jack London suggested some attitudes on age, and the fuller use of life: “I would rather be ashes than dust!” he said. “I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryout. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

The cut-off times that men set for themselves, or that others set for them, are not absolute but arbitrary. The work of the world is never done. And it is sad to see someone in idleness or inactivity⎯waiting⎯waiting for time to pass. It isn’t a question of years or of the clock or calendar, but of each one’s working his best, feeling his best; living his best, in satisfying usefulness for the full length of life. And it isn’t only a matter of physical effectiveness, but of mind, of spirit, and of judgment and experience in extending ourselves in service.

“The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded of a fallacy,” said William Lyon Phelps. “The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts,…” “The wise man,” said Seneca, “will always reflect concerning the quality, not the quality of life.”

Life is a stream that moves us silently, certainly, with no stopping place for any of us as we move through time and eternity, with each one to be what he can, and do what he can, through the whole length of life. “The business of life,” said Samuel Johnson, “is to go forward.”

“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 dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”