(Gary Wederspahn is a board member of Final Exit Network and co-editor of The Good Death Society Blog. He is a former Peace Corps Director, intercultural business consultant and marketing director for a Fortune 100 corporation. Gary is the author of a book and many published articles on international communications and relations.)
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Facing one’s own mortality is a universal human experience. I’ve been helped, encouraged and inspired by quotations from others’ reflections and insights. Here are some of my favorites:
“Death twitches my ear; “Live” he says … “I’m coming!” — Virgil
“The dead teach us this great lesson, which we are loathe to learn: we too will die” —John Updike
“A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.” — Stewart Alsop
“Death. It’s around more than people realize. Because no one wants to talk about it or hear about it. It’ too sad. Too painful. Too hard. The list of reason is endless.” — Jessica Sorensen
“Fear of death is irrational. We all know we will die one day. But we are irrational beings.” — Bangambiki Habyarimana
“No decent human being would allow an animal to suffer without putting it out of its misery. It is only human beings that are so cruel as to allow other human beings to live on in pain, in hopelessness, in living death, without moving a muscle to help them.” — Isaac Asimov
“If we live in grace and dignity and respect, then we should die in grace. God did not intend for us to suffer” — Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
“Dying on your own terms, this is the greatest gift anyone can bestow upon a mortal man.” — Mario Stinger
“Death is not a curse to be outwitted no matter the cost. Death is the natural pivot on which life turns, without which life as we know it could not be. A pro-life-support position is not always a pro-life position. When we can no longer hold on with purpose, to let go is to die with dignity and grace” — Rev. Forest Church
“If it were done, then t’well it were done quickly.” — Shakespeare in Hamlet
“I do not honor life when I fail to see that death and finitude are what gives life its precious quality.” — Bishop John Spong
“Death is not a tragedy to the one who dies; to have wasted the life before that death, that is the tragedy. — Orson Scott Card
“It is not the end of physical body that should worry us. Rather our concern must be to live while we’re alive” — Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
“I have prepared for my death and have made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs. I hope I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life’s journey in the manner of my choice.” — Bishop Desmond Tutu
“Death is our eternal companion. It is always to our left, an arm’s length behind us. Death is the only wise adviser that a warrior has.” — Carlos Castenda
Life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.” — Khalil Gibran
“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not. I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.” – Epicurus
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” — Mark Twain
“You only live twice: Once when you’re born and once when you book death in the face.” — Ian Fleming
“Death is contagious; it is contracted the moment we are conceived.” ― Madeleine L’Engle
“If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” ― Steve Jobs
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” —Abraham Lincoln
“Whoever teaches people how to die, teaches them how to live!” — Michel de Montaigne
I hope you enjoy these thoughts and that you will find them useful. Please share your favorites.
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Final Exit Network (FEN) is a network of dedicated professionals and caring, trained volunteers who support mentally competent adults as they navigate their end-of-life journey. Established in 2004, FEN seeks to educate qualified individuals in practical, peaceful ways to end their lives, offer a compassionate bedside presence and defend a person’s right to choose. For more information, go to www.finalexitnetwork.org.
Payments and donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Final Exit Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
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