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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 proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

— Jack London

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Notes from Wikiquote

Also included in Jack London’s Tales of Adventure, ed. Irving Shepard, Introduction, p. vii (1956)

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More quotes by Jack London

Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.

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Life achieves its summit when it does to the uttermost that which it was equipped to do.

White Fang (1906)

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

A good joke will sell quicker than a good poem, and, measured in sweat and blood, will bring better remuneration.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jack London (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.