All of us have read thrillingstories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live.Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty four hours. 3) But always we were interested indiscovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his lasthours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemnedcriminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited. 4) Such stores set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similarcircumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowdinto those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find inreviewing the past, what regrets? 5) Sometimes I have often thought it would be an excellent rule to live each dayas if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply thevalues of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, avigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretchesbefore us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those , of course, whowould adopt the epicurean motto of “ eat, drink, and be merry,” but most peoplewould be chastened by the certainty of impending death.