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December 28th

ON BEING REMEMBERED

“Everything lasts for a day, the one who remembers and the

remembered.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.35

ake a walk down Forty-first Street toward the beautiful New York City
Public Library, with its majestic stone lions. On your way up “Library
Way,” you’ll pass a gold placard laid into the cement, part of a series of
quotations from great writers throughout history. This one is from Marcus
Aurelius: “Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that
which is remembered.”
The library itself was designed by the firm of John Merven Carrère, one
of the twentieth century’s most accomplished architects. It combines the
collections of such luminaries and philanthropists as Samuel Tilden, John
Jacob Astor, and James Lenox, and their names are carved into the stone.
Today, the naming rights go to hedge fund manager Stephen A.
Schwarzman. The opening of the library in 1911 was attended by President
William Howard Taft, Governor John Alden Dix, and New York City mayor
William Jay Gaynor. The plaques you pass on your way were designed by
the excellent Gregg LeFevre.
Marcus’s quote makes us ponder: How many of these people have we
even heard of? The people involved in the story of the library were some of
the most famous men in the world, masters of their respective crafts, rich
beyond imagination in some cases. Even along “Library Way,” many of the
famous authors are unfamiliar to the modern reader. They are all long gone,
as are the people who remembered them.
All of us, including Marcus—who is passed over by just as many
unaware pedestrians—last for just a day, at most.