Thoughts Near the End of a Life

Writer Roger Rosenblatt reflects on ageing, mortality and the question of what gives a life meaning. He suggests that being useful to others, particularly through empathy and attention to people who feel alone, may matter more than the public impact of one’s work.

He recalls a conversation with the dying physician and writer Lewis Thomas, who said that the purpose of living was to be useful. Rosenblatt also writes about regrets that surface in old age, alongside deep gratitude for loved ones, nature and life itself. The East River and a tugboat become images for life’s passage towards an unknowable end.