Some of the world鈥檚 greatest writers and thinkers, on death
鈥淭he irony of man鈥檚 condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.鈥 鈥 Ernest Becker, American cultural anthropologist, 1925-1974
鈥淚f my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn鈥檛 brood. I鈥檇 type a little faster.鈥 鈥 Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author and scientist, 1920-1992
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鈥淒ying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.鈥 鈥 William Somerset Maugham, English playwright and novelist, 1874-1965
鈥淒eath? Why this fuss about death? Use your imagination; try to visualize a world without death! 鈥 Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.鈥 鈥 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American poet, writer and lecturer, 1860-1935
鈥淥ne can survive everything nowadays, except death, and live down everything, except a good reputation.鈥 鈥 Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist and poet, 1854-1900
鈥淎fter your death you will be what you were before your birth.鈥 鈥 Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher, 1788-1860
鈥淟ive as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.鈥 鈥 Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader, 1869-1948
鈥淒eath is terrifying because it is so ordinary. It happens all the time.鈥 鈥 Susan Cheever, American author, 1943-
鈥淪omebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.鈥 鈥 Pope Paul VI, Italian pope, 1897-1978
鈥淒eath does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.鈥 鈥 Epicurus, ancient Greek philosopher, BC 341-270
鈥淭he fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there鈥檚 no risk of accident for someone who鈥檚 dead.鈥 鈥 Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist, 1879-1955
鈥淲hile I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.鈥 鈥 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter and inventor, 1452-1519
鈥淭he fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.鈥 鈥 Mark Twain, American writer, 1835-1910
鈥淭he idea is to die young as late as possible.鈥 鈥 Ashley Montagu, British anthropologist, 1905-1999
鈥淚f man were immortal he could be perfectly sure of seeing the day when everything in which he had trusted should betray his trust, and, in short, of coming eventually to hopeless misery. He would break down, at last, as every good fortune, as every dynasty, as every civilization does. In place of this we have death.鈥 鈥 Charles Sanders Peirce, American mathematician, 1839-1914
鈥淢illions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.鈥 鈥 Susan Ertz, British novelist, 1894-1985
鈥淚鈥檓 not afraid to die. I just don鈥檛 want to be there when it happens.鈥 鈥 Woody Allen, American playwright, 1935-
鈥淒eath was Nature鈥檚 way of telling you to slow down.鈥 鈥 Terry Pratchett, English science fiction author, 1948-
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny the way most people love the dead. Once you鈥檙e dead, you鈥檙e made for life.鈥 鈥 Jimi Hendrix, American musician, 1942-1970
Death 鈥 Delve deeper into the riddle of human mortality in our special report.