A wooden bed is better than a golden coffin.
—Russian Proverb
It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men all live in a city without walls.
—Epicurus (c.341–270 BCE) Greek Philosopher
All human things are subject to decay,
And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey;
This Flecknoe found, who like Augustus young
Was call’d to empire, and had govern’d long:
In prose and verse, was own’d, without dispute
Through all the realms of nonsense, absolute.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
You just can’t complain about being alive. It’s self-indulgent to be unhappy. When asked how she has coped since husband’s death.
—Gena Rowlands (1930–2024) American Actress
You cannot live without the lawyers, and certainly you cannot die without them.
—Joseph Hodges Choate (1832–1917) American Lawyer, Diplomat
It is difficult to accept death in this society because it is unfamiliar. In spite of the fact that it happens all the time, we never see it.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
I balanced all, brought all to mind, the years to come seemed waste of breath, a waste of breath the years behind, in balance with this life, this death.
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Dying is something we human beings do continuously, not just at the end of our physical lives on this earth.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
—Dylan Thomas (1914–53) Welsh Poet, Author
Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Death teaches us to live; it gives us a boundary to map our living within. Death’s hammer breaks through the mirror separating us from light.
—David Seltzer (b.1940) American Screenwriter, Director, Producer
All men think that all men are mortal but themselves.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Death twitches my ear. “Live,” he says, “I am coming.”
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
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