“I pray I die before they day comes when I do not know if my sons are infants or grandfathers.”

“For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted time. I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze.”

“Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. ‘What, grandfather!’ I exclaimed. ‘Planting an almond tree?’ And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: ‘My son, I carry on as if I should never die.’ I replied: ‘And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.’ Which of us was right, boss?”

“I remember staring at my son endlessly when he was an infant, stunned by his very existence, wondering where on earth he had come from.”

“Now I lay me down to sleepI pray the Lord my soul to keepIf I die before I wakeI pray the Lord my soul to take.”

“Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep.And if I should die before I awake,I pray the popular attend my wake.”