He loved New York City, and loved contributing to its diverse fabric.
"She loved sport and she loved contributing to the school generally.
"I love contributing to a whole larger than myself," he says.
And by all means continue your evolution into a, breathing, loving, contributing member of the family.
But Cavalcanti, the poet of the complexities of love, contributed some of the finest examples of the dolce stil nuovo, for example, the sonnet that begins "Who is she coming, whom all gaze upon".
I know that our society has, in the last few decades, decided that all babies are special and that children are more important than people who have lived, loved, contributed and achieved but I really don't think it's likely your progeny will grow up to do anything more special or important than you have yourselves.
Still, groups with a handful of narcissists come up with better ideas than those with none, suggesting that self-love contributes to real-world success.
One hopes that the majority are not forgotten, the ones who are just getting on with life, loving, living, contributing, still aspiring, still here.
Leighton Meester is known to many of her teens and twentysomething fans as Blair Waldorf in the CW series Gossip Girl with a side career singing pop songs like "Somebody to Love" or contributing the female vocals on Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad".
"He loved public service, he loved politics and he loved to contribute".
