To die is landing on some silent shore
Where billows never break, nor tempests roar;
Ere well we feel the friendly stroke, ’tis o’er.
—Sir Samuel Garth (1661–1719)
It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary and so universal as death, should ever have been designed by Providence as an evil to mankind.—Jonathan Swift (1557–1745)
We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. We think of death as ending; let us rather think of life as beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing; let us think of gaining. We think of parting, let us think of meeting. We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of death whispers, “You must go from earth,” let us hear the voice of Christ saying, “You are but coming to Me!”—Norman Macleod (1812–1872)
Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord continually shows us that there shall be a future resurrection, of which He has made our Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits. Let us contemplate the resurrection that takes place every season before our eyes. Day and night declare a resurrection to us. The night lies down, and the day arises; again the day departs, and the night comes on. Let us behold the fruits of the earth. The seed is sown. It fell into the earth dry and naked; in time it dissolves; and from the dissolution the power of the Lord raises it again; and of one single seed many arise and bring forth fruit.—Saint Clement of Rome (d. 99)
Whatsoever that be within us that feels, thinks, desires, and animates is something celestial, divine, and, consequently, imperishable.—Aristotle (384–322 BC)
Not all the subtleties of metaphysics can make me doubt a moment of the immortality of the soul, and of a beneficent providence. I feel it, I believe it, I desire it, I hope it, and will defend it to my last breath.—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
Earth is the land of the dying: we must extend our prospect into heaven, which is the land of the living.—Bishop George Horne (1730–1792)
I shall hear in heaven.—Attributed last words of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
If God hath made this world so fair, where sin and death abound, how beautiful, beyond compare, will paradise be found!—James Montgomery (1771–1854)