In pondering the problem of going out with a bang of desperation and bitterness, consider ego. People don’t generally want to be forgettably benign. Even the dispassionate desire an emotional response to their existence, whether happiness or disgust or hatred. To be readily dismissed as one who was once cared for but is now forgotten—or worse, perceived to be a non-threatening element—is to lose control over not only someone else but the part of oneself that was wholly dedicated to being an influence. The type of influence is sometimes irrelevant.

There is no more effective nourishment for the ego than acting or speaking and receiving a response.