Humans and their petty doings come and go, but the geology endures. - Stephen Baxter

For the genes it made sense, of course. Otherwise it would not have happened.

It seems to me that age, growing old, is a war between wisdom and bitterness. I’m not sure how I’ll come out of that war myself, assuming I get so far.
Maybe some things are more important than life itself.
But what?

The main reason to exercise, he thought: It stops your brain working, lets your body remind you you’re still an animal. It was the only respite he got from being himself.