>Dragan,
>
>>>Why wouldn't an atheist care more for a legacy of basic morality than a glittering lifetime career?
>
>I'm afraid he has not been in the habit of consulting me about such things, so I can't answer. That fact is that he didn't, and now he does.
>
>Perhaps we will meet some day to muse over our own life decisions, and the insights and regrets we learned as we moved into our creaking dotage.

Nice try... and good attitude. But, I didn't ask for your account of what any particular atheist told you or didn't tell you. I asked for your view, as to why... and there's the "an" in front of the word "atheist", used (if my English serves me well) as an indefinite article, i.e. not any particular person, but a general atheist person as perceived by you. Thus, back to your sentence

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.

Since you can't see the "why would", I figure you might have a list of "why would nots" on which you based this sentence.

(I'm not letting you bail out easily, am I?)

update:
Come to think of it, is it common for people of faith to dedicate their lives to their careers only to suddenly go for morality once career is coming to an end, while the unbelievers just have a general habit of going for it gradually, without sudden turns?

I love to break stereotypes :)