“ To himself every one is an immortal: he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead. ”
Samuel Butler, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912). copy citation
| Author | Samuel Butler |
|---|---|
| Source | The Note-Books of Samuel Butler |
| Topic | death immortality dying |
| Date | 1912 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6173/6173-h/6173-h.htm |
Context
“There will come a supreme moment in which there will be care neither for ourselves nor for others, but a complete abandon, a sans souci of unspeakable indifference, and this moment will never be taken from us; time cannot rob us of it but, as far as we are concerned, it will last for ever and ever without flying. So that, even for the most wretched and most guilty, there is a heaven at last where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. To himself every one is an immortal: he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead.
VI If life is an illusion, then so is death—the greatest of all illusions. If life must not be taken too seriously—then so neither must death.
VII The dead are often just as living to us as the living are, only we cannot get them to believe it.” source
VI If life is an illusion, then so is death—the greatest of all illusions. If life must not be taken too seriously—then so neither must death.
VII The dead are often just as living to us as the living are, only we cannot get them to believe it.” source
Meaning and analysis
