'We all want to have beautiful endings
We all want to have beautiful endings to our lives
We all want to have beautiful endings to our lives . We want to leave sweet memories behind in the hearts of those who know and love us. We want our names to be fragrant in the homes on whose thresholds our footfalls are accustomed to be heard.
We want the memory of our last parting with our friends, to live as a tender joy with them as the days pass away.
We want, if we should stand by a friend's coffin tomorrow, to have the consciousness that we have done nothing to embitter his life.
We can make sure of this, only by so living always . . .
that any day would make a tender and beautiful last day;
that any hand-grasp would be a fitting farewell;
that any hour's fellowship with a friend or neighbor would leave a fragrant memory;
and that no treatment of another would leave a regret or cause a pang, if death or space should divide us forever.