best quotations about
Death |
| 150 quotes | Visits: 31,251 |
Quotations
 | A dying man can do nothing easy. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer (his last words) 27 likes |
 | I never think that people die. They just go to department stores. — Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, American artist 26 likes |
 | We don't actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace. — T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948 26 likes |
 | Death twitches my ear. “Live,” he says. “I am coming.” — Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet 20 likes |
 | One of the greatest delusions of the average man is to forget that life is death's prisoner. — Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher 19 likes |
 | I knew it! I knew it! Born in a hotel room and, goddamn it, dying in a hotel room. — Eugene O’Neill, 1888-1953, American playwright, Nobel 1936 (his last words) 17 likes |
 | The way we die is sadder than death itself. — Martial, 43-104 AD, Roman poet of epigrams 15 likes |
 | Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. — Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, German chancellor 14 likes |
 | I only fear the death of others. For me, true death is that of the people I love. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 14 likes |
 | I want a priest, a rabbi and a Protestant minister. I want to hedge my bets. — Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright (on his deathbed) 13 likes |
 | I am against using death as a punishment. I am also against using it as a reward. — Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims 13 likes |
 | Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ Julius Caesar 13 likes |
 | Which death is preferably to every other? The unexpected. — Julius Caesar, 100-44 BC, Roman general & Consul 12 likes |
 | Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be beautiful, which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers. — Wallace Stevens, 1879-1955, American poet 11 likes |
 | Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. — Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer 11 likes |
 | He said, “There’s no difference between Death and Life.” “So,” someone said, “Why don’t you just die?” “Because,” he said, “there’s no difference!” — Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 11 likes |
 | Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 11 likes |
 | When I die, I will not see myself die, for the first time. — Antonio Porchia, 1885-1968, Italian-Argentinian poet 10 likes |
 | Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. — Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, American businessman 9 likes |
 | Only the dead have seen the end of war. — George Santayana, 1863-1952, Spanish-American philosopher 9 likes |
 | Death is terrible, but still more terrible is the feeling that you might live for ever and never die. — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 9 likes |
 | One should be afraid of life, not of death. — Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress 9 likes |
 | Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one. — Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer 8 likes |
 | To die is landing on some distant shore. — John Dryden, 1631-1700, English poet 8 likes |
| Stop dying. Am trying to write a comedy. — Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright (telegram to his ill brother) 8 likes |
 | Neither the sun nor death can be looked at steadily. — La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer 8 likes |
 | Death is there as irrefutable proof of the absurdity of life. — André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman 8 likes |
 | Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 7 likes |
 | A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time. — Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, American writer & philosopher 7 likes |
 | Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter. — Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957 7 likes |
 | All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die. — Bob Dylan, 1941-, American singer [Nobel 2016] 7 likes |
| Which executioner is the more humane, he who kills you in a few minutes or he who drags the life out of you in the course of many years. — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 7 likes |
 | The best place a person can die, is where they die for others. — James Barrie, 1860-1937, English writer 7 likes |
 | Birth in the physical is death in the spiritual. Death in the physical is birth in the spiritual. — Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, American mystic & prophet 7 likes |
 | Death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, the physician of him whom medicine cannot cure, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console. — Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, English cleric & writer 6 likes |
 | None believes in his own death. In the unconscious everyone is convinced of his own immortality. — Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis 6 likes |
 | Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him. — E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer 6 likes |
 | We contain our death like the fruit its stone. — Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet 5 likes |
 | Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war. — Donald Rumsfeld, American politician 5 likes |
 | Death is the only thing that ever terrifies me. I hate it. One can survive everything nowadays except that. — Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer 5 likes |
 | Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 5 likes |
| As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport. — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ King Lear 5 likes |
| Man was born when for the first time, in front of a corpse, he whispered: “Why?” — André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman 5 likes |
 | To be born is to have commenced to die. — Théophile Gautier, 1811-1872, French poet & writer 5 likes |
 | Every poem should remind the reader that they are going to die. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 5 likes |
 | No one’s death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humaneness. — Robert Oxton Bolt, 1924-1955, British playwright 5 likes |
| Most people die at 25 and aren’t buried until they’re 75. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 4 likes |
 | No matter how long you live, die young. — Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer 4 likes |
 | I am not sure of anything, I know nothing... can you imagine that I don't even know the date of my own death? — Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer 4 likes |
| The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 4 likes |
| I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 3 likes |
| You know, what’s so dreadful about dying is that you are completely on your own. — Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer 3 likes |
 | The ultimate meaning to which all stories refer has two faces: the continuity of life, the inevitability of death. — Italo Calvino, 1923-1985, Italian writer 3 likes |
| How good would it be if one could die by throwing oneself into an infinite void. — Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher 3 likes |
 | It is not death, it is dying that alarms me. — Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, French thinker 2 likes |
 | Death: I would like to know who makes this bad joke on us. — Manolis Doukides, Greek writer 2 likes |
| Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure. Aujourd'hui maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas. — Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957 (first sentences of “The Stranger”) 2 likes |
 | It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live. — Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer 2 likes |
 | The privilege of the dead: they never die. — Gabriele D’ Annunzio, 1863-1938, Italian poet 2 likes |
 | I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. — Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, British-Polish writer 2 likes |
 | As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. |
 | It is the duty of a doctor to prolong life and it is not his duty to prolong the act of dying. |
 | He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived. |
| The meaning of life is that it stops. |
| I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die. |
| Our life is made by the death of others. |
 | In every parting there is an image of death. |
 | Death tugs at my ear and says, “Live. I am coming”. |
 | Perhaps death has no more secrets to reveal to us than life? |
 | Man dies in despair while the Spirit dies in ecstasy. |
 | Death is the only thing we haven't succeeded in completely vulgarizing. |
| Death is the side of life which is turned away from us. |
 | A person is really dead only when nobody thinks of him anymore. |
| The terrible thing about death is that it transforms life into destiny. |
 | Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain. |
| No young man believes he shall ever die. |
 | Despite rumor, Death isn't cruel--merely terribly, terribly good at his job. |
| No one is truly dead until they are no longer loved. |
 | Those who hate to go to bed fear death; those who hate to get up fear life. |
| Death is just infinity closing in. |
 | Death is like a competition where everyone hopes to be last. — Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist |
| When you are young, you think about death without waiting for it. When you're old, you wait for it without thinking about it. — Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist |
 | No matter what you do this year or in the next hundred, you will be dead forever. |
| One does not belong to a place until there is someone dead under the ground. |
| There's no greater misfortune than dying alone. |
| To die will be an awfully big adventure. |
 | Dying is a part of living, but only a very small part. — Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist |
 | Death is the inventor of God. |
 | If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die. — Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction |
 | Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 |
 | Dear me, I believe I am becoming a god. — Vespasian, 9-79 AD, Roman Emperor (when he sensed imminent death) |
 | At the end of true love is death, and only the love that ends in death is love. |
 | As for me, my last wish is to be taken to the cemetery in a garbage truck. — André Breton, 1896-1966, French writer, founder of Surrealism |
 | I go to seek a Great Perhaps. — François Rabelais, 1484-1553, French writer (Hia last words) |
 | Man has only one real evil: the fear of death. Deliver him from this fear and you will set him free. — François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician |
| Death does not reveal the secrets of life. — François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician |
| It is through death that morality entered life. — François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician |
 | Death has always been the asylum of glory. |
 | I used to think of death like I suppose soldiers think of it: it was a possible thing that I could well avoid by my skill. |
 | We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. |
| To die laughing must be the most glorious of all glorious deaths! |
| An emperor ought to die standing on his deathbed. — Vespasian, 9-79 AD, Roman Emperor (dying, suffering from severe diarrhea) |
Latin Quotes
 | Remember death. Memento mori. 151 likes |
 | Let us live, since we must die. Vivamus, moriendum est. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 120 likes |
| Death has the last word. Mors ultima ratio. 77 likes |
| Death equals all things. Omnia mors aequat. 77 likes |
| From the moment we are born, we begin to die. Nascentes morimur. 76 likes |
| Death is certain, the hour is not certain. Mors certa, hora incerta. 48 likes |
 | I shall not wholly die. Non omnis moriar. 41 likes |
 | They lived. Vixere. — Cicero, 106-43 BC, Roman orator & statesman (after the execution of the participants in the Catilinarian conspiracy; meaning: “they are dead”) 41 likes |
| One night awaits everyone. Omnes una manet nox. 37 likes |
Quotes in Verse
| For he who lives more lives than one More deaths than one must die. — Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer 7 likes |
| There is one who remembers the way to your door: Life you may evade, but Death you shall not. — T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948 6 likes |
 | Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me. — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet 5 likes |
| All human things are subject to decay, And, when fate summons, monarchs must obey. — John Dryden, 1631-1700, English poet 4 likes |
| When you go to bed, don't leave bread or milk on the table: it attracts the dead. |
 | I think I can remember being dead. Many times, in winter, I approached Zeus. Tell me, I would ask him, how can I endure the earth? |
 | Dying is a wild night and a new road. |
Funny Quotes
 | It’s not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens. — Woody Allen, 1935-, American actor & film director 8 likes |
 | A doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill, so he gave him another six months. — Henry Youngman, 1906-1998, American comedian 8 likes |
 | The report of my death was an exaggeration. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 6 likes |
 | I get up every morning and read the obituary column. If my name's not there, I eat breakfast. — George Burns, 1896-1996, American comedian 6 likes |
 | One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us. — Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007, American writer 5 likes |
 | I don't think anybody should write his autobiography until after he's dead. — Sam Goldwyn, 1879-1974, American film producer 5 likes |
| How can I die? I'm booked. — George Burns, 1896-1996, American comedian 3 likes |
 | The man who dies by drowning sees his whole life pass by in a flash, when it would be better to just swim. |
 | I read that the number one fear of the average person is public speaking … Number two was death. To me, that means that, to the average person, if you were going to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy. |
Ancient Greek
 | He whom the gods love dies young. Ον γαρ οι Θεοί φιλούσιν, αποθνήσκει νέος. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 41 likes |
 | Death is the healer of incurable diseases. Θάνατος των ανηκέστων κακών ιατρός. — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian 41 likes |
 | Death is a debt which every one of us must pay. Πάσιν ημίν κατθανείν οφείλεται. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Alcestis 35 likes |
| Better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all my life. Κρείσσον γαρ εισάπαξ θανείν — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Prometheus Bound 22 likes |
 | Death is nothing to us. Because something which is decomposed has no senses while something without senses is nothing to us. Ο θάνατος ουδέν προς ημάς· το γαρ διαλυθέν αναισθητεί· το δ' αναισθητούν ουδέν προς ημάς. — Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 21 likes |
 | I think death is nothing more than the separation of two things from one another: soul and body. Ο θάνατος τυγχάνει ων, ως εμοί δοκεί, ουδέν άλλο ή δυοίν πραγμάτοιν διάλυσις, της ψυχής και του σώματος απ’ αλλήλου. — Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 21 likes |
 | Fools long for life because they fear death. Ανοήμονες ζωής ορέγονται θάνατον δεδοικότες. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 18 likes |
 | Do not speak evil of the dead. Τον τεθνηκότα μη κακολογείν. — Chilon of Sparta, 6th cent. BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 18 likes |
| Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and when death is come, we are not. Το φρικωδέστατον ουν των κακών ο θάνατος ουθέν προς ημάς͵ επειδήπερ όταν μεν ημείς ώμεν͵ ο θάνατος ου πάρεστιν͵ όταν δε ο θάνατος παρῇ͵ τόθ΄ ημείς ουκ εσμέν. — Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 17 likes |
| Only in death there is no remedy. Θανάτου μόνον ουκ έστιν επανόρθωμα. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 16 likes |
| Surely to die with glory is a blessing for the mortals. Ευκλεώς τοι κατθανείν χάρις βροτώ. — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Agamemnon 13 likes |
 | In the good days remember also death. Ευημερών μέμνησο και του θανάτου. — Aesop, 620-560 BC, Ancient Greek fabulist 13 likes |
 | Corpses are more useless than dung. Νέκυες κοπρίων εκβλητότεροι. — Heraclitus, 544-484 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 12 likes |
| In death all men are earth and shadow. Naught come to naught. Κατθανών δε πας ανήρ γη και σκιά, το μηδέν εις ουδέν ρέπει. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Meleager 9 likes |
 | When life is so burdensome, death has become a sought after refuge. Ούτω ο μεν θάνατος μοχθηρής εούσης της ζόης καταφυγή αιρετωτάτη τω ανθρώπω γέγονε. — Herodotus, 480-420 BC, Ancient Greek historian, the “ father of History” 9 likes |
| Better a bad life than a good death. Κακώς ζην κρείσσον ή καλώς θανείν. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Iphigeneia at Aulis 7 likes |
| Death is no different at all from life. Ουδέν τον θάνατον διαφέρει του ζήν. — Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 7 likes |
 | The base among mankind in order to avoid effort fall in love with death. Φαύλοι βροτών γαρ του πονείν ησσόμενοι θανείν ερώσιν. — Agathon, 450-400 BC, Ancient Greek tragic poet 6 likes |
Proverbs
 | Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way. — American Indian proverb ‐ Blackfoot 4 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | What is the privilege of the dead? To die no more. — from the film Alphaville (1965) 7 likes |
 | - You have a chance to die for freedom. - Yes, well, freedom is wonderful. On the other hand, if you're dead, it's a tremendous drawback to your sex life. — from the film Bananas (1971) 4 likes |
| Yes, I am afraid of death. But for a humble secret agent, it's an everyday thing, like whiskey. And I've been drinking all my life. — from the film Alphaville (1965) 4 likes |
 | Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up. — from the film Night of the Living Dead (1968) 3 likes |
