Agree or disagree?

When people see death approaching, no one yet has said that they wished they had worked longer hours or amassed more goods. A colleague of mine was trying to motivate another colleague to write more books. He was saying, "At the end of your life, what do you really want? Lots of people at your funeral or a shelf full of books?" The one speaking, as you can imagine was a bit full of himself. He had never really considered the end of life. But when he heard the words come out of his mouth, he realized that people were more important than productivity. Talk to someone with wisdom and you will hear that friends and family are what's important.

- Ed Welch, Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest, p. 122/123

This quote I'm going to disagree with.

In the first place, the author seems somewhat confused. Is he talking about writing books - the argument that I'd like to take on - or about collecting books that others have written (i.e. amassing more goods ... AKA materialism)? Then there's the bad rhetoric labeling each of those who agree with his argument as "someone with wisdom".

Secondly, the argument seems both experientially and Biblically false. That's not to say that time with friends and family is a bad thing, but that it's not unambiguously better. You need to find a balance somewhere. Is it a bad idea to have a "life's work" that you're assembling? (Can you ever make a case for moving anywhere anytime - in search of a job or whatever - using this logic?). Sometimes people have had a bigger impact on the world after their death than before - although those are anomalies. Where does it put people like Abraham, who set out - admittedly with some (but not all) - of his family from Ur of the Chaldeans way back when? Where does it leave a lot of missionaries?