AC_1965_Web

108 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M I L L E R farm and several town forests, Meredith N.H. • Author of the above-mentioned books. BE AFRAID TO DIE UNTIL YOU HAVE WON SOME VICTORY FOR HUMANITY Improvisations on Horace Mann’s quote to be sung to Beethoven’s “Pathetique Sonata,” adagio cantabile Do not die until you’ve left behind a gift of your making that improves the lot of mankind. Show the world the measure of your art, discover your inner Bach, Beethoven, Mozart. Create, design, invent, what interests you and you feel impelled to carry through, gifts uniquely yours which generations yet to be will thank you for. No one like you has come before in all of history, and your clone will not appear elsewhere in space or time’s eternity. Be afraid to vanish from this earth without leaving some lasting remembrances of your worth. Leave more than a grave. Show by what you made how you chose to be, what you thought, what you felt, that we’ll honor thee. Years can slip away. Therefore, seize the day. Don’t wait! Create! Leave mankind a treasure from your heart, discover your inner Bach, Beethoven, Mozart. Be afraid to die until you’ve won some victory for humanity, and then your mission will be done. May your deeds gladden you as you die and your thoughts at last come to a cease, and bring joy and the blessed contentment of peace. The measure of your art. A treasure that comes from the heart. Before it’s your time to depart. —By Peter N. Miller, Antioch ’65, Copyright 2014