Here is something he said about death, something I could not have said and that's probably because I am young, still always wanting more....
“The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.” --Christopher Hitchens,13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011
I'm 62, and I couldn't have written, "I want nothing more," either. People who are content to die astound me.
ReplyDeleteSixty-two is young in our current society. To be totally selfish, we have lost out on all the works he would have created if he had lived longer. The world is a lesser place.
ReplyDeleteSnowbrush--yes, I feel the same. Thanks for sharing that. I don't know many people in their 60's, but hearing your thoughts makes me suspect that maybe it's not because I'm young...I'll always want more. How couldn't I?
ReplyDeleteAndy--I wholeheartedly agree.
Sarah, my own fear of death only becomes worse with age (I mean, I'm down to about my last 20 years on earth, and at my age, 20 years seems like nothing), but what I fear even worse than dying myself is Peggy dying. I also fear dying without having done anything of importance simply because I was too weak, lazy, or cowardly to accept the challenge. When I was younger, I, like a lot of people, maybe men especially, romanticized death, but now, I just see it as, well, the end of life, and the beginning of rot. Andy Rooney, who died recently, spoke of death as something he didn't welcome, and I hear the same from other old people. Death is mostly welcomed by those who are miserable and have no hope for a brighter tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHey was' p Andy. It seems to me that he got all outta life that he could, His last year puts my last year tio shame. i'll totally miss my brocrush, Hitch.
ReplyDeleteKriss
ps we all want more