Leave the well cleaner

There is an old instruction for travellers: leave the well cleaner than you found it, for the ones who come after you whom you will never meet.

It is the whole of legacy in one sentence. Most of what we leave behind is not money; it is habits, phrases, standards, the way our children saw us treat waiters and rivals. These travel further than any estate.

So tend the well. Tell the stories. Write down the recipe. Apologise while it still costs something. The people who come after are already on the road.