Source: The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998
Journal entry (November 1951) as published in the Kerouac ROMnibus http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ctitext2/resguide/resources/j100.html
“I hope that Live Earth ends global warming the same way the Live Aid ended world poverty.”
In an interview at Live Earth in London
Miscellaneous
"Tan Kheng Hua Talks ‘Kung Fu,’ ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and Living for Her Art" in Observer (22 April 2021) https://observer.com/2021/04/tan-kheng-hua-kung-fu-interview-crazy-rich-asians/
“Before I became old I tried to live well; now that I am old, I shall try to die well; but dying well means dying gladly.”
Ante senectutem curavi ut bene viverem, in senectute ut bene moriar; bene autem mori est libenter mori.
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXI: On meeting death cheerfully, Line 2.
“Well tonight I'm gonna live for today, so come along for the ride,
I hope I'm old before I die.”
Old Before I Die
Life Thru a Lens (1997)
2010s, 2018, The Restless Wave (2018)
Context: "The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it," spoke my hero, Robert Jordan, in For Whom the Bell Tolls. And I do, too. I hate to leave it. But I don’t have a complaint. Not one. It’s been quite a ride. I’ve known great passions, seen amazing wonders, fought in a war, and helped make a peace. I’ve lived very well and I’ve been deprived of all comforts. I’ve been as lonely as a person can be and I‘ve enjoyed the company of heroes. I’ve suffered the deepest despair and experienced the highest exultation. I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times.
I leave behind a loving wife, who is devoted to protecting the world’s most vulnerable, and seven great kids, who grew up to be fine men and women. I wish I had spent more time in their company. But I know they will go on to make their time count, and be of useful service to their beliefs, and to their fellow human beings. Their love for me and mine for them is the last strength I have.
What an ingrate I would be to curse the fate that concludes the blessed life I’ve led. I prefer to give thanks for those blessings, and my love to the people who blessed me with theirs. The bell tolls for me. I knew it would. So I tried, as best I could, to stay a "part of the main." I hope those who mourn my passing, and even those who don’t, will celebrate as I celebrate a happy life lived in imperfect service to a country made of ideals, whose continued service is the hope of the world. And I wish all of you great adventures, good company, and lives as lucky as mine.
