Not long ago a certain publication had an idea. Its editor made up a
list of thirty men and women distinguished in art, religion, literature,
commerce, politics, and other lines, and to each he sent a letter or a
telegram containing this question: "If you had but forty-eight hours
more to live, how would you spend them?" his purpose being to embody the
replies in a symposium in a subsequent issue of his periodical.
Among those who received copies of the inquiry was a New York writer. He
thought the proposition over for a spell, and then sent back the
truthful answer by wire, collect:
"One at a time."