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Quotes about life and death

656 quotes from 337 people

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I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.
Anne Boleyn1501–1536Reported by Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower, in a letter to Thomas Cromwell (May 1536)
Colombians! My last wish is for the happiness of the patria. If my death contributes to the end of partisanship and the consolidation of the union, I shall be lowered in peace into my grave.
Simón Bolívar1783–1830Final proclamation to the people of Colombia (10 December 1830), as quoted in Thomas Rourke, Man of Glory: Simón Bolívar (1939)
- Patriotism
Jesus’ commandment never wishes to destroy life, but rather to preserve, strengthen, and heal life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer1906–1945Discipleship (1937), Preface, tr. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss (2001)
- Christianity
We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies. But will we be that generation?
Bonoborn 1960Foreword to The End of Poverty (2005) by Jeffrey Sachs
- Children
Any life, however long and complicated it may be, actually consists of a single moment — the moment when a man knows forever more who he is.
Jorge Luis Borges1899–1986“A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz”, in The Aleph (1949); tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998)
The truth is that we live out our lives putting off all that can be put off; perhaps we all know deep down that we are immortal and that, sooner or later, all men will do and know all things.
Jorge Luis Borges1899–1986“Funes the Memorious” [“Funes El Memorioso”] (1944)
Is Death important? No. Everything that happens before Death is what counts.
Ray Bradbury1920–2012Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), Chapter 54 (p. 289)
Don’t be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.
Bertolt Brecht1898–1956The Mother (1930)
- Fear
God did not give me my life to throw away
Charlotte Brontë1816–1855Jane Eyre (1847), Chapter XXXVIn context
Any relic of the dead is precious, if they were valued living.
Emily Brontë1818–1848Wuthering Heights (1847), Chapter XIIIIn context
Be with me always⁠—take any form⁠—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!
Emily Brontë1818–1848Wuthering Heights (1847), Chapter XVIIn context
- Love
I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.
Emily Brontë1818–1848Wuthering Heights (1847), Chapter XXXIVIn context
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.
Rupert Brooke1887–1915The Soldier (1915)In context
- Patriotism
Hope for the Best. Expect the worst. Life is a play. We’re unrehearsed.
Mel Brooksborn 1926The Twelve Chairs (1970)
Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments,⁠—I submit; so let it be done!
John Brown1800–1859John Brown’s Last Speech (1859)
- Justice
- Slavery