Farscape doesn’t yet cease to amaze me in its provocative and powerful stories, its wonderful dialogue, and its amazing characters. I shall share this dialogue, by John Crichton, as the last seconds of his life slip away, consequences of massive radiation poisoning as a result of his noble sacrifice to save the world from a deadly threat. He sits with Aeryn, the true love of his life, who only hours earlier had pledged to follow him across the universe, back to his home of Earth whatever the consequences, so that they could be together. Crichton takes his final breaths and says:

They say…
it’s a lucky or an unambitious man
who goes when he’s ready.

That said–
Scorpius is gone.
I’m at peace.
I don’t hurt.

I… I did some good things.
I’m proud of my life.
And I’m with you.

Don’t worry about me. I’ve never felt better.

When I die I want to die humble but proud of my life. I want to die at peace, with people I love, feeling that I have lived productively, that it has been worth it. And not worth it in the typical 9-5 routine of life, but worth it because I have truly experienced wonders, I have felt true happiness, and I have done noble deeds.

Some can die content that they lived a life of good service, and this I find comforting, but it is not enough for me. I need not die with a legacy, but I must die in a world that is a better place than the one I entered. And so my quest need be only this: to make the world, in some small way, a better place.

Even if no one knows it but me.