From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Feb 03 2003 - 08:44:23 MST
My father was a huge fan of Jack London. I grew up with a plaque devoted
to Jack London on the wall of my family's dining room. Under Jack
London's photograph were these words attributed to him:
        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 sleepy and permanent
planet. 
        The function of man is to live, not to exist. 
        I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. 
        I shall use my time. 
After the Challenger disaster in 1986, I dug up that old plaque and
placed it on the wall of my own home. That Challenger incident brought
tears to my eyes; Jack London's words took on a new meaning then that I
could never have imagined as a small child.
London's words seem even more meaningful today than they were then, so I
thought I would post them here.
-gts
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