| Someday it will come. We know this. Every person who was born will die. Whether it's soon or a long time from now, peaceful or violent, expected or not, we cannot know, all we know is that it will happen. But everybody, including Marcus Aurelius, wonders what people will be saying, what it will mean for you to be leaving this world. We wonder about our legacy. We wonder how quickly we'll be forgotten. In Meditations, Marcus speculated that despite the life he'd tried to live, the good he'd tried to do, there would still be people who were happy to see him go. No doubt, he wondered how he would be remembered, what his legacy would be. But he also wrote about how little this actually mattered, how it wasn't in his control. Isn't this also part of one of the most famous scenes in literature—where Huck Finn gets to sneak in to see his own funeral, eavesdropping on what everyone is saying about him, whether they're grieving him or not? Wanting to be remembered, to be loved, to be celebrated–it's a timeless, powerful urge. Some argue that much of civilization, most of art, most of war, and success is in some way rooted in a denial of death, wanting to live forever, wanting to be talked about after we're gone. It's funny that although Marcus tried to remind himself that posthumous fame was not worth much (he'd be dead), he still managed to find it. He is remembered. We are talking about him in today's email–and although there were some people who were glad he was on his deathbed (and some people today don't admire him), he did end up being remembered and is widely admired. The book he wrote, Meditations, wasn't intended for publication…but it was and is selling like crazy (we even created our own leather edition here at Daily Stoic). Maybe that is the ultimate lesson here. Don't think about it. Don't focus on fame or a monument to your success. Don't try to make sure everyone knows how important or wonderful you are. Just try to be good. Focus on the day in front of you. Live it well, live it according to your values. Leave the legacy—whether it happens or not—for whatever happens or not. |
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