A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clear-sighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerality of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action.
Source: Disturbing the Peace, ch. 3 (1986; tr. 1990).
-- Vaclav Havel, (Oct 5 1936-2011), Czech playwright, poet, politician; He was a prominent playwright and political dissident under communism, who eventually served as the president of Czechoslovakia, 1989-92.