I know not whether, in the eyes of the world, a brilliant death is not preferred to an obscure life of rectitude. Most men are remembered as they died, and not as they lived. We gaze with admiration upon the glories of the setting sun, yet scarcely bestow a passing glance upon its noonday splendor.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People remember how someone died more than how they lived, admiring a brilliant death over a quiet righteous life.
- In plain terms
- History remembers your death more than your daily life.
- What can you take from it?
- Daily virtue is often overlooked compared to dramatic endings.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you want to be remembered?
- Does how you matter matter?
Another view
It generalizes how history works.
More from Davy Crockett
I know nothing, by experience, of party discipline. I would rather be a raccoon-dog, and belong to a Negro in the forest, than to belong to any party, further …
Permalink to quote #6 We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living.
Permalink to quote #8 Pop, pop, pop! Bom, bom, bom! throughout the day. No time for memorandums now. Go ahead! Liberty and Independence forever.
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