Quotes about Mortality

Life itself is a sea full of reefs and maelstroms that a human being takes the greatest care and caution to avoid; he uses all his efforts and ingenuity to wend his way through, while knowing that even if he is successful, every step brings him closer to the greatest, the total, the inescapable and irreparable shipwreck, and in fact steers him right up to it, - to death: this is the final goal of the miserable journey and worse for him that all the reefs he managed to avoid.

Life itself is a sea full of rocks and whirlpools that man avoids with the greatest caution and care, although he knows that, even when he succeeds with all his efforts and ingenuity in struggling through, at every step he comes nearer to the greatest, the total, the inevitable and irremediable shipwreck, indeed even steers right on to it, namely death. This is the final goal of the wearisome voyage, and is worse for him than all the rocks that he has avoided.

I remind myself all the time now that if I were to have been born mute, or had maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered, and I would still die.

Death folds the corners of my mouth into a heart-shaped star. It sits on my tongue like a stone around which your name blossoms distorted. — Audre Lorde, from "Speechless," The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde . (W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition February 17, 2000)

One man asked another on the death of a mutual friend, How much did he leave? His friend responded, He left it all.

When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realise that there are lots of things you want to do before your life is over.

If you want to know how fortunate you are, visit three places: the slum, the hospital, and the cemetery.

No one gets out of this world alive, so the time to live, learn, care, share, celebrate, and love is now.

Unhappy is the soul enslaved by the love of anything that is mortal.

The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them.

7. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

Tis very little worth the while for us to pursue after honor in this world, where the greatest honor is but a bubble and will soon vanish away, and death will level all. Some have more stately houses than others, and some are in higher office than others, and some are richer than others and have higher seats in the meeting-house than others; but all graves are upon a level.