“I am dying of thirst by the side of the fountain.”

“I die of thirst beside the fountain.”

“I am not the least afraid to die”

“I am ready. I have repented my sins and soon I will be in heaven with Christ my savior. Now I must die like a man.”

“Don't be afraid to hear me. Don't shrink from anything I say. I am like one who died young: all my life might have been.”

“The plain truth is we are going to die. Here I am, a teeny spec surrounded by boundless space and time, arguing with the whole of creation, shaking my fist, sputtering, growing even eloquent at times, and then-poof! I am gone. Swept off once and for all. I think that is very, very funny.”

“Do you remember the sight we saw, my soul,that soft summer morninground a turning in the path,the disgusting carcass on a bed scattered with stones,its legs in the air like a woman in needburning its wedding poisonslike a fountain with its rhythmic sobs,I could hear it clearly flowing with a long murmuring sound,but I touch my body in vain to find the wound.I am the vampire of my own heart,one of the great outcasts condemned to eternal laughterwho can no longer smile.Am I dead?I must be dead.”