In THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, the author, J.D. Salinger, has one of his characters, Mr. Antolini, say, "The the mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he want to live humbly for one." This was actually written by Wilhelm Stekel, a psychoanalyst. People often "die nobly for a cause" because they want fame, or because they want to be remembered, or even because they don't want to labor to reach their goal.

Many people are willing to die for the cause they're defending. During the war, many young men are asked to become soldiers. They know that many of them won't come back. Yet they go. Why? Because it is an honor to die for their country. Wouldn't it have been better if they had worked for peace instead of fighting? Maybe not. Maybe it would have made the situation worse. But those people didn't understand that most of the great victories have been achieved far from the lines of battle, by individuals who only wanted to make mankind's future a little better. You don't make a country better by dying, you can only make it worse because people are sad that you died. But you can make your country better if you try to make the future better, by doing small gestures every day.

Some people found that they were mature enough to work in the shadows. Galileo Galilei discovered that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. But this was against the Church's vision of the world, and they thought that they would lose their control over the population if it was known that they had been wrong. So they forced Galileo to make a public declaration that what he had discovered was not true, and they kept him away from the world for the rest of his life, under constant scrutiny. Galileo was afraid of torture, and he was afraid of death, so he didn't want to die nobly for his cause, but he finished his book, the "Discorsi", that told the world of what he had discovered, while in the Church's custody and managed to get it published, out of the country. He accomplished more in living humbly than if he had been condemned to death by the inquisitor.

Most people want to be famous, and many want to be famous in order to be remembered after their death. What better way to be remembered than to die for a great cause. People will admire your sacrifice and devotion. It is easy to be admired, but it is hard to really change things and to be modest. It's very hard to sacrifice fame in order to make something progress. It takes a lot of maturity to decide not to be famous, to work backstage and do whatever is necessary to reach your goal. Most of the people who did a lot of good did it in silence. Mother Theresa is a good example. She didn't want to be famous, she didn't shout "Wake up, people are suffering here!" on the market place until policemen came and made a spectacular arrestation for disturbing the peace, and hope that it would make someone realize that there were people that needed help. She went on the streets, with what little means she had, and did a lot of good by living humbly and simply.

To "live humbly for a cause" may be harder than to "die nobly" for one, but it is the way most of the people who made a lot of good chose, even if it meant that they wouldn't be famous or remembered. In the end, we admire them more than those who chose to die. Giving your life for a cause doesn't mean to die for it. It means working hard, maybe sacrificing a way of life you could have had. In a way, it means giving your life, because you change the way you're living, but isn't it worth the sacrifice to know that you succeeded in making things just a little better?

Essay written for my English course

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