I shall pass through this world but once.

If therefore, there be any kindness I can show,

or any good thing I can do, let me do it now:
let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass
this way again.

– Etienne de Grellet

If you have kids, you are a potential ancestor.

If you don't have kids, you're still a potential ancestor: an ancestor of ideas, helpful inventions, things you pass on and leave behind.

Are you working on being a good ancestor? Are you planning to leave the world richer than you found it?

What are your strategies? Tell us!

• Who do you know of who is/was a good ancestor? Write an entry for the Edited Guide. (Which is not a bad legacy.)
• What do you see around you that constitutes good planning for the future? We want your photos, artwork, and stories.

You can plant a tree, mend a road, build a bridge. You can save a literature. You can write stories that make people think. You look around, you find what there is to do. You work, not merely for today, but for the world you'll be leaving behind.

Help us plan our own efforts by sharing how you intend to be a good ancestor.

Create Team