The statement reflects on an individual's legacy, implying that if someone aimed to leave minimal impact on history, they succeeded remarkably. The quote suggests a sense of irony regarding the person's lack of significance in the larger narrative of human events.
By placing such emphasis on this person's inconspicuousness, it questions the values we assign to historical achievements and the nature of remembrance. In Bryson's "At Home: A Short History of Private Life," this perspective might serve as a commentary on the often-overlooked aspects of ordinary lives in the continuum of history.