"To have lived without glory, without leaving a trace of one's existence, is to never have lived at all."

So said Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant French general who, after bringing the bloodshed of his country's revolution to a close, went on to conquer the world.  Although he didn't succeed--the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, spelled the end of his ambitions--he certainly managed to change the face of Europe.  His legacy remains with us today.

The general's words asks us to consider a number of things.  One, what is glory?  Many religions talk about God's glory.  Others discuss human glory.  Some do both. For Napoleon, however, it seemed that life is all about human glory.  About the here

 and now, and never mind any afterlife.

Two, what is life anyway?  Is it to live and die?  To live, die, and live again?  If life is simply to seek one's glory, to, as Napoleon put it, ensure that a trace of one's existence remains, life seems rather futile.  We won't live on this planet indefinitely:  however much "glory" we amass, once we're gone, it's gone, too.

Nonetheless, as Napoleon might say, we lived.  We left our mark.  Fair enough.  Not that we shouldn't strive to create a positive legacy.  Yet if that's all we seek, we misunderstand the nature of existence.

After all, did we even ask to be born?