Epilogue

It is a noble ambition to endeavor to fill the short span of our lives with deeds of lasting value. To a truly noble nature, there is no thought less endurable, yea, more repulsive, than to vanish utterly from the scene of life leaving no trace of useful accomplishment, to depart from this world without having contributed to the capital of the higher assets of humanity, to be physically alive and mentally dead, and to be forgotten by his contemporaries as soon as his eyes are closed.

--Christian Schonbein, ca. 1860