Okay, so I'm shameless. I ripped this from the epitaph on
Jenny Sparks' tomb in
Authority #13. Even so, it's something I try to live my life to. I shall readily admit to being an
idealist. I don't want what's out there, I want what's out there to be
better. I don't want to
change the world in any major way. I just want it so that people can look back and see that the world they are in is better than it was.
Pretentious? Probably. But this is one way through which I can say "Though I May Not Have Lived A Virtuous Life, At Least I Can Say "I've lived"". For actively trying to make the world better, even in a tiny way, is better than not trying at all.
How can anyone try to improve the world? It's a personal thing. You can't just look at somebody else and copy their ideas to improve anything, as odds-on it has already been tried. So the ideal of improving the world goes hand in hand with original thought. The thoughts of someone that does not just follow blindly. The thoughts of someone willing to make a change.
So it's a circular arguement. But it's a circular process. You can't just sit back once you have attempted to make one change. You have to try for something else. You can never stop trying, as that is akin to giving up. And giving up is the worst possible thing you can do.