This is not a bad thing. It means our names and legacies are mortal, just like us. And so we are free to choose a more meaningful lodestar to guide our lives, rather than chasing the ephemeral possibility that our names will be spoken with gravitas once we’re dead.

This applies to smaller, daily priorities, as well as big picture questions. or example, recognizing that I’ll never be remembered as a great writer—that, even if my yet-to-exist books are taught in schools, eventually the syllabi will be updated—helps me focus on the immense satisfaction I get from meeting people, entering different worlds, publishing articles that raise awareness of overlooked problems, and the act of writing itself. Conversely, though having a higher Twitter following might open opportunities for me to build my brand as a writer (such as invitations to give public talks and the chance to rub shoulders with public intellectuals), reminding myself of the impermanence of any possible legacy also reminds me that I really don’t enjoy personal-brand building, so why devote energy to it?