Dwelling on death is a a luxury of royalty or something like that. I wouldn't think even rich people have the time for such a thing.
I can't believe this segment of your blog has gotten to 60 entries! Wow. I've been busy on other things and have missed a lot of it.
I like the interpretation you give to that quote. Even when times have changed a lot, the idea of living your life to do good is a concept that stems form ancient times. Of course, good and bad and concepts that change according to the time period. So maybe those ideas of being noble encompassed many other aspects of life.
Regardless, there's a good chance of having done the right thing by keeping your affairs in order and not messing with people's lives. It doesn't get you out of gossip and bad commentary, but we are what we do. If you do good, there's nothing s lot of people can do. Their envy will outlast you. And that's their problem.