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Death

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“That was indeed to live— At one bold swoop to wrest From darkling death the best That Death to Life can give!”
Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An Ode on the Unveiling of the Shaw Memorial on Boston Common. May Thirty-First, 1897", The Poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Vol. II (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1897), p. 207
“All things being at God’s disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction.”
John Calvin (1509–1564) said by 1564 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In John Allen, ed., Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ioannis Calvini Institutio Christianae religionis (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1841), p.169.
“People are chaotic quiddities living in one cave each. They pass the hours in amorous grudge and playback and thought-experiment. At the camp fire they put the usual fraction on exhibit, and listen to their own silent gibber about how they're feeling and how they're going down. We've been there. Death helps. Death gives us something to do. Because it's a fulltime job looking the other way.”
Martin Amis (1949–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Have patience, Margaret, and trouble not thyself. Death comes for us all; even at our birth — even at our birth, death does but stand aside a little. And every day he looks toward us and muses somewhat to himself whether that day or the next he will draw nigh. It is the law of nature, and the will of God. You have long known the secrets of my heart.”
Robert Bolt (1924–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Taken as a whole, the Cross Correspondences and the Willet scripts are among the most convincing evidence that at present exists for life after death. For anyone who is prepared to devote weeks to studying them, they prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Myers, Gurney, and Sidgwick went on communicating after death.”
Colin Wilson (1931–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In its flight from death, the craving for permanence clings to the very things sure to be lost in death.”
Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Euripides says,— Who knows but that this life is really death, And whether death is not what men call life?”
Diogenes Laërtius wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Tertullian
“War is primarily not about victory or defeat but about death and the infliction of death. It represents the total failure of the human spirit.”
Robert Fisk (1946–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's one and the same, one and the same What's the use between death and glory? Hard to choose between death and glory Happy endings they never bored me Happy endings, they still don't bore me They have a way, a way to make you pay And to make you toe the line Now I'm severing the ties because I'm so clever but clever ain't wise”
Pete Doherty (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Animals, these beings trapped As I am trapped but not, themselves, the trap, Aging, but without knowledge of their age, Kept safe here, knowing not of death, for death — Oh, bars of my own body, open, open!The world goes by my cage and never sees me.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid? To question or to speak as I believed could have meant pain, or death. But we all hurt in so many different ways, all the time, and pain will either change or end. Death, on the other hand, is the final silence.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Still, you must know that the fear of death is irrational; death comes to everyone.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, Death was never enemy of ours! We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum. No soldier's paid to kick against His powers. We laughed, — knowing that better men would come, And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.”
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Shall victor exult, or in death be laid low, With his back to the field and his feet to the foe, And leaving in battle no blot on his name, Look proudly to heaven from the death-bed of fame.”
Thomas Campbell (poet) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lochiel's Warning (1802)
Also quoted by: Thomas Campbell
“Where other gods might have advocated making life a garden, Voorstod’s God promised the garden only after death, preferably violent death. Then might the faithful lie about on the greensward sucking grapes and fucking virgins, so the prophets promised.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is never dignified.” O’Doull spoke with a doctor’s certainty. “Never. Dignity in death is something we invent afterwards to make the living feel better.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity — it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.”
Yann Martel (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that "All abilities come from one mind" sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lord knows why they depict death with wings when death is everywhere.”
José Saramago (1922–2010) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 112 (Vintage 2003)
“His eyes had death in them, his and mine. His belly was bloated and I could smell the stench of a festering wound, the sickening odor of old blood impregnated into cloth. There was a wildness in his face and his mouth was a tight slash that showed all his teeth. Marv Kania was young, but right there he was as old as death itself.”
Mickey Spillane (1918–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan [America] is absolute [...] Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September, Death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America.”
Hassan Nasrallah (1960–2024) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Al-Manar, BBC Monitoring. (27 September 2002)
“He said that both views were one view and that while men may meet with death in strange and obscure places which they might well have avoided it was more correct to say that no matter how hidden or crooked the path to their destruction yet they would seek it out. He smiled. He spoke as one who seemed to understand that death was the condition of existence and life but an emanation thereof.”
Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is for a long time. Those of shallow thought say that it is forever. There is, at least, a long night of it. There is the forgetfulness and the loss of identity. The spirit, even as the body, is unstrung and burst and scattered. One goes down to death, and it leaves a mark on one forever.”
R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the death penalty:(the argument that it costs more to appeal death row convictions than to imprison someone for life.) "Ken Starr gave me the perfect comeback on that," she scoffs. "How many millions of dollars were we willing to spend to show that the President had oral sex?”
Nancy Grace (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is not an evil, because it frees us from all evils, and while it takes away good things, it takes away also the desire for them. Old age is the supreme evil, because it deprives us of all pleasures, leaving us only the appetite for them, and it brings with it all sufferings. Nevertheless, we fear death, and we desire old age.”
Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thoughts. Translation by J.G. Nichols [Hesperus Press, 2002, ], p. 6
“Every man must be made to realize that further retreat is impossible. He must realize with his mind and heart that this is a matter of life and death of the Soviet state, of the life and death of the people of our country...the Nazi troops must be stopped now, before it is too late.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement made in World War II, as a commissar on the southern front, as quoted in Leonid I. Brezhnev : Pages from his Life (1978) by Academy of Sciences of the USSR, p. 49; also in For the Soul of Mankind : The United …
“It is not death therefore that is burdensome, but the fear of death.”
Ambrose (339–397) said by 397 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I sought happiness, and I shall find—perhaps death. It seemsit was to be thus: it seems it was a sin ... But death covers all and reconciles all; does it not?”
Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883) said by 1883 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's nothing that tastes of death more than the summer sun, the powerful light, exuberant nature. You sniff the air and listen to the woods and know that the plants and animals don't give a damn about you. Everything lives and consumes itself. Nature is death...”
Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is repose, but the thought of death disturbs all repose.”
Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I witnessed the gruesome workings of the machinery of death; gear meshed with gear, like clockwork. It was the biggest and most enormous dance of death of all times.”
Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The certainty of death is the spring of action and therefore of life, and in the implicit religious element in the work of art, life triumphs over death.”
Luis Barragán (1902–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thus life by life and love by love We passed through the cycles strange, And breath by breath and death by death We followed the chain of change. Till there came a time in the law of life When o’er the nursing sod, The shadows broke and soul awoke In a strange, dim dream of God.”
Langdon Smith (1858–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For we know the clod, by the grace of God Will quicken with voice and breath; And we know that Love, with gentle hand Will beckon from death to death.”
Langdon Smith (1858–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: These lines just before the final four do not appear in most published versions, but were included in the version published in The Book of Poetry (1927) edited by Edwin Markham. It is not known whether they existed in t…
“There is no point in erecting a structure,” said Muzzlehatch, taking no notice of Titus’s question, “unless someone else pulls it down. There is no value in a rule until it is broken. There is nothing in life unless there is death at the back of it. Death, dear boy, leaning over the edge of the world and grinning like a boneyard.”
Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Institutional Buddhism has been conspicuously ready to accept or ignore the inequalities and tyrannies of whatever political system it found itself under. This can be death to Buddhism, because it is death to any meaningful function of compassion.”
Gary Snyder (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is written that the last enemy to be vanquished is death. We should begin early in life to vanquish this enemy by obliterating every trace of the fear of death from our minds. Then can we turn to life and fill the whole horizon of our souls with it, turn with added zest toall the serious tasks which it imposes and to the pure delights which here and there it affords.”
Felix Adler (1851–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O son of Maharaj Nanda, I am your eternal servitor, and although I am so, somehow or other I have fallen in the ocean of birth and death. Please, therefore, pick me up from this ocean of death, and fix me as one of the atoms of your lotus feet.”
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) said by 1534 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is real. Death changes things. Everything else is filler, merely a message from our sponsor.”
Michael Marshall Smith (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But death blinds you, unaware of man’s fall – An autumn that steals the flower from the flower peddler.Death is testimony of god’s love and mercy for man – A promise made between autumn and spring.”
Ghani Khan (1914–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I say the word death a lot … think of it as … primal relations, opposite, so if I say death a lot, it means I'm concerned with life. It's true.”
Edie Sedgwick (1943–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.”
Jesus (6 BC–33) said by 33 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death has been the great leveler/ Of all honour, glory and name./ None can take anything with them/ To their tomb! Death! The sobering fact/ Of all our yearnings and longings!/ “What does it profit a man …”/ If he cannot take any of the things/ To his grave.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death stares at me/ Death pushes me forward/ Attracts me onwards/ And carries me on/ And that is my life!”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To relish life and to relish death/ And to be grateful for both/ And to be open for more/ In both death and life.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is only a step towards .../ In this celebration of love/ Death is a stepping stone/ Towards the fullness/ Towards which all of us/ Consciously and unconsciously long for.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on — otherwise he is useless.”
David Gemmell (1948–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the w:New Testament is much more interested in ...life after life after death...”
N.T. Wright (born 1948) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as interviewed by David Van Biema, "Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop," Time Magazine, Feb. 07, 2008
“Those who look for death have to wait patiently till death finds those who look.”
Edmund Cooper (1926–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A hundred wise men have said in various ways that love transcends the power of death, and millions of fools have supposed that they meant nothing by it. At this late hour in my life I have learned what they meant. They meant that love transcends death. They are correct.”
Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bed and Breakfast", Dante's Disciples (1995), ed. Edward E. Kramer; reprinted in Gene Wolfe, Strange Travelers (2000); reprinted in Gene Wolfe, The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009)