There are times when the thought of becoming utterly nothing to the world we knew so well and loved so much is painful and oppressive
 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast-Table (1872). copy citation

Context

“Twenty-seven names make up the first story before the flood, and the recorded names ever since contain not one living century.” I have my moods about such things as the Young Astronomer has, as we all have. There are times when the thought of becoming utterly nothing to the world we knew so well and loved so much is painful and oppressive; we gasp as if in a vacuum, missing the atmosphere of life we have so long been in the habit of breathing. Not the less are there moments when the aching need of repose comes over us and the requiescat in pace, heathen benediction as it is, sounds more sweetly in our ears than all the promises that Fame can hold out to us.” source