"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."
"It is so much easier to live placidly and complacently. Of course, to live placidly and complacently is not to live at all."
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Source: Jack London (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Jack London (Illustrated)”, p.8197, Delphi Classics
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