A Long Life?

We all want a long life right? I'm torn between the views of Woody Allen and Thomas à Kempis:

• Allen: ... life is full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, ... and it's all over much too quickly.
• Kempis: What good is it to live a long life when we amend that life so little? Indeed, a long life does not always benefit us, but on the contrary, frequently adds to our guilt. Would that in this world we had lived well throughout one single day. Many count up the years they have spent in religion but find their lives made little holier. If it is so terrifying to die, it is nevertheless possible that to live longer is more dangerous. Blessed is he who keeps the moment of death ever before his eyes and prepares for it every day.

The Nobel Prize awarded in Literature to Mario Vargas Llosa.

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