“ Sensible people get the greater part of their own dying done during their own lifetime. ”
Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh (1903). copy citation
| Author | Samuel Butler |
|---|---|
| Source | The Way of All Flesh |
| Topic | death reason living |
| Date | 1903 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2084/2084-h/2084-h.htm |
Context
“I saw he was running off from his own reminiscences and tried to bring him back to them, but it was no use. «What a fool,» he said, «a man is to remember anything that happened more than a week ago unless it was pleasant, or unless he wants to make some use of it. «Sensible people get the greater part of their own dying done during their own lifetime. A man at five and thirty should no more regret not having had a happier childhood than he should regret not having been born a prince of the blood. He might be happier if he had been more fortunate in childhood, but, for aught he knows, if he had, something else might have happened which might have killed him long ago.”
source
Meaning and analysis
