Cancer is such a wake-up call to remind us how high the cosmic stakes really are and how short and brief and frail life really is.

The early Christian rules of life were not made to last, because the early Christians did not believe that the world itself was going to last.

Nothing is so fickle and uncertain as popularity. It is here today and gone tomorrow. It is a sandy foundation, and sure to fail those who build upon it.

Decay is inherent in all component things! Work out your salvation with diligence.

The silver swan, who living had no note,When death approached unlocked her silent throat;Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,Thus sung her first and last, and sung no more:Farewell, all joys; O death, come close mine eyes;More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Little ladybug on my arm you wear a heart as part of your charm You joined me on this sunny day just for a moment then you flew away.

All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

The fashion of this world passeth away.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.

In spring, Granny would send me off to pick bluets, violets, and windflowers. As the weeks passed, she'd ask for yellow lady's slippers and bleeding hearts, then roses and white rhododendron clusters that grew along the stream. She'd always seem to know the day when the mayflies danced and died. When I'd come back from whatever venture she'd sent me on, she'd talk about how life was precious.

Life produces a different taste each time you take it.