Ironically, these quotes about death make you think about the importance of life. Most of us try to ignore the fact that we're all going to die someday, but it's worth reflecting on. In the end, it helps you appreciate the life you have left to live.
Over the course of human history, people have written countless reflections on death. There are many quotes about death. It’s a subject that has unsettled humans since the beginning of time and even inspired certain rituals in other animal species.
In spite of all the attention death gets, there isn’t even an agreement on its general definition. Scientists have a lot to say about death, but even they don’t know exactly when human life stops from a neurological and thermodynamic perspective.
Religions and ideologies don’t agree on the subject either. Most deny the idea that everything ends when biological functions cease, but they disagree on what happens afterward. Many great thinkers have written about death or spoken about death. Here are some of the best quotes about death.
The brilliant poet Antonio Machado Reza had this to say about death: “Death is something that you shouldn’t fear, because as long as you’re here, death isn’t here, and when death arrives, you’re gone”.
This is common sense. Death doesn’t exist for a dead person. If you’re dead, you can’t experience death. You’re gone, and so are your fears.
Alphonse de Lamartine has given the world one of the most beautiful quotes about death. “Often, and without knowing it, the tomb contains two hearts in the same coffin”. When a loved one dies, a little part of you dies along with them.
The death of a loved one significantly affects those who survive them. For a time, the lives of those who go on living are stuck in that coffin.
Andre Malraux had this to say about death: “Death is only important because it makes us think about the value of life”. The meaning of death is closely related to the meaning of life.
Malraux tells the reader not to think about death in and of itself. He says that it really isn’t important, because it’s the end of everything. However, awareness of the end is significant because it affects how you approach and experience life.
This quote about death is thousands of years old. The ancient philosopher Laozi wrote: “Different in life, all men are equal in death”. In other words, death is the most democratic institution there is. It treats everyone equally.
On that same note, as lavish as a funeral might be, the coffin will always be filled with a lifeless body, a decomposing organism. Nothing more, nothing less.
William Shakespeare wrote a lot about death. In his 73rd sonnet, he emphasized that being aware of death makes you love more in the here and now:
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day, as after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all the rest. In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As th edeath-bed whereon it must expire, Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by. This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more srong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Often, we act like life will go on forever. It seems like time will never run out. Love gives life another kind of meaning, but people also treat it like it’ll never end.
There’s a big difference between the death of a child, the death of a young person, and the death of an elderly person. The child and the young person have just started their lives, which is why their deaths are painful and unsettling. They’re like projects that were never finished.
In old age, on the other hand, you’ve already had a chance to live. In that case, there’s a logic to death, the end of a cycle. Baltasar Gracian expressed it this way: “For the young, death is a shipwreck. For the old, it’s like sailing into port”.
Stefan Zweig had a very profound reflection on the subject of death. He said: “It isn’t enough to think about death. You must keep it always in your mind. That way, life becomes more majestic, more important, more fertile, and more joyful”.
In general, people don’t like to talk about death. It seems taboo, unapproachable. Zweig invites you to look at death in the face so that you feel the intensity and value of your life.
This is just a small selection of the many, many quotes about death that are out there. We decided to share them because it’s always good to remember that our time on Earth is fleeting. We’re all going to die. But until death comes, you must live life to the fullest.
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