Attitudes Provoked by Death

Oxford Book of Death

by

D. J. Enright

"He who pretends to look on death without fear lies. All men are afraid of dying, this is the great law of sentient beings, without which the entire human species would soon be destroyed."

~Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712- 78) (as cited in Enright 22)

                So apparently, we have to thank death for keeping us alive, because it is our fear of death that drives us away from it, towards self-preservation. Thus, anyone who is alive and says that they do not fear death, is an oxymoron; being in contradiction with what they believe, and the very fact that they are alive. 

"Through all the East did quake to hear

Of Alexander's dreadful name,

And all the West likewise did fear

To hear of Julius Caesar's fame,

Yet both by death in dust now lie.

Who then can 'scape, but he must die?"

~Robert Southwell
(1561-95) (as cited in Enright 25)

                Wealth, fame, luck, power or might will not keep death from coming. You cannot pay out death, nor can you bargain with him, nor out smart him, nor defeat him with power or might. No matter who you are, no matter what your standing in the world, death will come for you. Truthfully, the only thing you can really do about it is to keep healthy and not do anything too risky; this is really just a method that tries to prevent a meeting with death before a person's "time". Death comes to everyone eventually, and equalizes the pauper with the king, the warrior with his enemy, and the weak with the mighty. 

"Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is, knows how deep a dept of gratitude we owe to Adam, first great benefactor of our race. He brought death into the world.

All say, 'How hard it is that we have to die' ---a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live."

Mark Twain (1835-1910) (as cited in Enright 30)

               You might not agree with all of Twains ideas, however, you must admit that he was an amazing philosopher. Life, for everyone, at some point or another is difficult and, well, hard to live with. Twain is saying that we should not feel that death is a catastrophe or a inevitable tragedy; rather we should look upon it as a blessing and a relief from all the difficulties we are faced with in life.