Death Quotes

“Your body is just a loan from this planet. What you call ‘death’ is just Mother Earth reclaiming the loan that she offered to you. All life on this planet is just a recycle of the earth. You may think right now that you are going to your office, home, or football match, but as far as your body is concerned, it is going, moment by moment, straight toward the grave. Right now, you may have forgotten, but slowly, as time passes, it will become more apparent that this is the nature of the body.”
Sadhguru, Inner Engineering (Page 150)

25 Remarkable Chadwick Boseman Quotes on Struggle, Work Ethic, Authenticity, and Life

25 Memorable Chadwick Boseman Quotes From His Life and Acting Career

Excerpt: The iconic Black Panther star, Chadwick Boseman died at age 43. This list of 25 Chadwick Boseman quotes will help you remember his life and legacy.

“The struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
Chadwick Boseman

Beyond the Quote (239/365)

Chadwick Boseman, the iconic “Black Panther” star, has died at age 43 after a 4-year battle with colon cancer. He was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, battled it until it progressed to stage IV, and up until it ended up taking his life here in 2020. And like so many others, I knew nothing about his cancer or that he was even sick at all.

“When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.”
Kevin Kelly, Blog

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And what is your reputation made up of? The sum of all of the actions you took when you were alive. All of them. The actions you took when you were excited and joyful—and the actions you took when you were miserable and upset. It’s composed of the things you did for those who you admired, desired, and cared for—as well as the things you did for those who you pitied, hated, and didn’t pay any mind to. Your reputation is nothing more than the summary report of how well you followed the golden rule while you were alive.

“Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear, and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.”
Kevin Kelly, Blog

“One of the most powerful spiritual practices is to meditate deeply on the mortality of physical forms, including your own. This is called: Die before you die. Go into it deeply. Your physical form is dissolving, is no more. Then a moment comes when all mind-forms or thoughts also die. Yet you are still there—the divine presence that you are. Radiant, fully awake. Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 196)

The Egg by Andy Weir — A Profound Short Story About The Meaning Of Life and Death

Excerpt: The Egg by Andy Weir is an incredibly profound and thought-provoking short story about interconnectedness, oneness, and the meaning of life and death. A must read for anybody who is curious about why we might be here and what this experience of life might be all about.

“Good-byes hurt the most when the other person’s already gone.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

“Funerals aren’t for dead people. They’re for the living. I doubt Khalil cares what songs are sung or what the preacher says about him. He’s in a casket. Nothing can change that.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 122)

Dalai Lama Quote on Remembering A Person After They Pass

“The best way to keep a memory of a person [who has passed away], the best remembrance, is to see if you can carry on the wishes of that person.”
Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness

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I would go one step further and say that the best remembrance is, not just to carry on the wishes of the person who passed, but to embody the best of who that person was. Wishes come from a place of deep and personal desire—they are goals derived from a person’s unique characteristic makeup. Who a person is isn’t a reflection of these wishes—their thoughts—but rather is a reflection of the actions they took throughout their life. Wishes are inside a person’s mind, character is reflected in the actions of their body. We can only interpret and truthfully judge the latter.

“Seneca reminded himself that before we were born we were still and at peace, and so we will be once again after we die. A light loses nothing by being extinguished, he said, it just goes back to how it was before.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 256)

“A life lived thoroughly justifies its own limitations.” ~ Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life (Page 365)

“All of our emotions have value, and as unpleasant as some are, they’re reminders that we’re alive and have a whole lot going on inside. Why not approach life with curiosity and wonder, instead of dread and fear. We don’t avoid movies because we know they’ll end. We enjoy the journey they take us on. Our journey is life, and no one makes it out alive; the finish is death, so let’s enjoy life while we can, with those we love, while they’re still here.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 46)

“It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent, when they are not.”
Thich Nhat Hanh | Read Matt’s Blog on this Quote ➜

Leonardo Da Vinci Quote on Happy Death

“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.”
Leonardo da Vinci

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At the end of every day, when you lay your head down on your pillow, there are usually a few moments of reflection. Sometimes the movie of your mind plays memories from the day, or replays situations that you might have acted on differently, or even anticipates the things that are to come. Sometimes these thoughts and reflections leave you feeling dissatisfied and sometimes they leave you feeling accomplished. When you pay attention to, and are mindful of, the average feeling of how you spent the time of your days, then you can start to navigate, and get in tune with, the direction and path of your life.

Excerpt: John Leland spent years with some of the oldest old in America and wrote a book on his findings. Read our quotes on aging from his book here!

“We often conduct our life as though it’s going to last forever. With this attitude, we want everything. The fact of death puts a limit on what we can have, what we can do. We don’t need to think about death all the time, but to ponder it, to contemplate it, gives us perspective and inspiration about living our life. It also makes us less spoiled. It makes us look at the balance of our life and determine what needs to come first. What is important to me? How shall I use my life? We’re able to enter situations more openly once we’ve related with death. It makes our love more powerful.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 156)

“Impermanence is always pounding at the door. Of course, acknowledging impermanence doesn’t mean we get permanence. It means we’re more in tune with reality; we can relax. As we relinquish our attachment to permanence, pain begins to diminish because we’re no longer fooled. Accepting impermanence means that we spend less energy resisting reality. Our suffering has a more direct quality. We’re no longer trying to avoid it. We see that impermanence is a river that runs through life, not a rock that stands in the way. We see that because we resist impermanence, pain and suffering are constants. We realize that pain comes from our desire for permanence.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 147)

“Only the young think they aren’t dying, or that aging is something that affects other people.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 211)

“To accept death was to accept life, and to accept life was to live in joy, however dire the circumstances around you.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 163)