Kierkegaard isn't simply contrasting death with legacy—he's identifying a peculiar inversion of power itself. The tyrant, however mighty in life, loses all authority the moment he breathes his last, his commands becoming mere historical footnotes. But the martyr, paradoxically weak and defeated at the moment of death, gains an almost spiritual authority that grows with time: think of how Nelson Mandela's imprisonment actually amplified his moral influence, making his eventual freedom seem like vindication of something larger than one man's suffering. The insight cuts deeper than "be remembered well"—it suggests that true influence doesn't come from dominion over others, but from willing sacrifice that speaks to something eternal in human conscience.