"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time"
About this Quote
The subtext is personal as much as philosophical. London wrote out of overdrive: poverty, brutal labor, the Klondike, war correspondence, a body worn down early. His work keeps returning to organisms pushed to the edge - sled dogs, sailors, drifters - because the edge is where identity becomes legible. This quote turns that worldview into a credo: existence as maintenance is an insult to the fact of being alive.
It also reads like a corrective to a rapidly modernizing America obsessed with respectability, property, and progress measured in years. London flips the metric. A "sleepy and permanent planet" is stability without radiance, endurance without meaning. The rhetoric is deliberately absolutist because moderation is precisely what he is rejecting. Even the rhythm is impatient; the repetition of "I would rather" is a clenched jaw. The final promise - "I shall use my time" - lands as both manifesto and foreshadowing: the voice of someone who knows the bill for brilliance comes due.
Quote Details
| Topic | Live in the Moment |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Jack London (Jack London) modern compilation
Evidence:
plete works of jack london delphi classics 2013 i would rather be ashes than dust i would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot i would rather be a superb meteor every atom of me in magnificent glow than a sleepy and permanent planet the proper function of man is to live not to exist i shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them i shall use my time the bulletin san francisco ca |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
London, Jack. (2026, February 8). I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust-i-would-rather-173093/
Chicago Style
London, Jack. "I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." FixQuotes. February 8, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust-i-would-rather-173093/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." FixQuotes, 8 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust-i-would-rather-173093/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
