>Dragan,
>
>>>At that time I understood this as special mention of his atheism, contrary to the normal attitude expected from an atheist. As if morality, selflessness and decency were somehow incongruous with not believing.
>
>Don't forget that I referred to his sudden desire to be *remembered* for those attributes, not whether he ever exhibited any of them. I can immediately understand why somebody of faith might come to such a realization, but still cannot see why an atheist would suddenly care more for a legacy of basic morality than a glittering lifetime career. I'd ask you to explain, except this has gone on a while now ;-)

While Rich answered it quite better than I would... here's a counter-question:
Why wouldn't an atheist care more for a legacy of basic morality than a glittering lifetime career?