# Living a net positive life

* **The case for creating a legacy**
  * Given there is no proof of life after death, the only surefire way to become immortal is leaving a footprint of ourselves
* **Compensating for failures with greatness**
  * E.g. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reportedly was kind of a jerk. However, he was able to compensate for this with incredible music that has been amazing people for centuries.
  * Takeaway: As long as you don't have Mozart's talent, better not be a jerk.
* **Leave the world a better place than it would have been without you**
  * To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived — that is to have succeeded.
    * *Bessie Anderson Stanley, Success*
  * See also the Boy Scout Rule of Software Engineering