Life and Safety, Champagne and Strawberries, Candles and Torches

I took Meg to get her wrist cast off at Bellevue Bone and Joint Physicians recently, where they had the following quotation posted:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out & screaming 'WOO HOO - What a ride!'"

In googling around, I cannot find any attribution to any source for this quote, but alot of people appear to be using it as their signatures. It seemed very appropriate for an orthopedic surgeons' office, a more lighthearted expression of a sentiment articulated by George Bernard Shaw:

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.