Stanford neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi died March 9th of lung cancer at the age of 37. So many things about his situation made him unique: being a doctor, being diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, being a new father. But most importantly, the kind of man he was.

In his article, “Before I Go“, he leaves this message for his infant daughter:

“When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”

Work is important. But it’s not what’s most important.