Echoes

Happy is the man who hath the hour of his death always before his eyes, and daily prepareth himself to die.

Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.

Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. 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.

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.

He realized now that to be afraid of this death he was staring at with animal terror meant to be afraid of life. Fear of dying justified a limitless attachment to what is alive in man. And all those who had not made the gestures necessary to live their lives, all those who feared and exalted impotence — they were afraid of death because of the sanction it gave to a life in which they had not been involved. They had not lived enough, never having lived at all.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

He who does not value life does not deserve it.

God has given to man no sharper spur to victory than contempt of death.

Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you're alive and able—be good.

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.

Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

One dies twice: to cease to live is nothing, but to cease to love and to be loved is an insupportable death.

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

The measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length.

What once sprung from the earth sinks back into the earth.

The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live. And often this living nobly means that you cannot live long.

I have heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.