I find the message of this chapter particularly comforting.
We may be forgotten by our descendants, the past may never be remembered, and one day the earth will be swallowed by the sun.
But none of that changes what we accomplish in our lives. That is, was, and will always be real and true. The past is immutable and unchanging, even if we can't see it.
I'm not concerned with living forever. But I am a historian. I want to know the truth of the past. I want to preserve it for posterity. But this is a humbling and comforting reminder that the truth doesn't need me. It will always exist independent of my efforts. But those efforts can hopefully bring it back into the present.