We’ve had a particularly poignant year so far with the loss of many much loved celebrities including both David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both actors rather than authors but both of them important players in the literary field in their own ways; Bowie as an amazing lyricist and an avid reader and Alan as the man who brought Severus Snape to life on the big screen.
Authors by their very nature have a wonderful way with words, so who better to turn to for an uplifting quote when the sadness and sorrow of death surrounds us.
“My dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you.
Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness.
Let it kill you and let it devour your remains.
For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.
~ Falsely yours”
Charles Bukowski.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson.
“Don’t think of it as dying, said Death. Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush.”
Terry Pratchett
“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.”
Helen Keller.
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
Mark Twain
“It’s better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.” Michael Crichton .
“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” David Bowie
“Dead. Never been that before. Not even once.” Jasper Fforde
“I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of loving someone who might have loved you back but can’t due to deadness.” John Green.
“Death comes for us all in the end.” Severus Snape
There is no getting away from the fact that death is upsetting, it is a time for quietude and reflection; a time for remembrance. But if we want it to be, it can mean nothing more than the beginning of another chapter, one which will take us on new adventures to wonderful places.