In the spirit of longevity.

From what path does experience hail,
When one should succeed once, or fifteen times fail?
For each obstacle or tool on our trip,
Is a fountain of experience that does more than drip.
Twenty-three years of experimentation is at my command,
What works, what doesn't. It's in a book in another form, and
You can never read too fast. Forty-eight years the same,
Taught me above all others, those that have gone and came.
Impressions last as long as their surface, much like success
Comes one funeral at a time, death is progress.
So living forever is naught but a matter,
Of finding a container that takes long to shatter,
What do we fear in death, that others shall forget?
For that reason are we entombed in regret?
Or do we wish to remain for others' sake,
That ideas and wisdom will fade in our wake,
But through impressions, you can rest when you lie,
Life may slip away, but ideas seldom die.