r/AskReddit • u/DrCompenomics • 12h ago

Who’s the best real-life example of “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” and what happened?

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324

u/I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS 9h ago

If Elon Musk had actually died on Mars when he first expressed such a wish back in 2013, I imagine he would be remembered very differently.

179

u/DralenDragonfox 8h ago

Or if he had really crashed that uninsured McLaren when he was trying to impress his passenger, Peter Thiel. Imagine the timeline with those two characters removed fifteen years ago.

32

u/BeholdingBestWaifu 5h ago

Time travelers take note.

16

u/Big-University-1132 5h ago

That would have been a great thing for society…

45

u/knowledgeable_diablo 9h ago

One could only have hoped. I know I was.

1

u/JumpingCoconut 6h ago

By the way we've always been at war with Eastasia, it was never any different, and Oceania was always our ally.

8

u/commodorecliche 8h ago

Damn, our timeline really skewed in the wrong direction, huh?

3

u/Blcksheep89 6h ago

He would have been an inspiration to many young people. These young scientists would emerge and cite him as their source of motivation... Instead, this pos gave us a dumpster fire that extinguish their dream instead.