“The story of a life can be as long or as short as the teller wishes. Whether the life is tragic or enlightened, the classic gravestone inscription marking simply the dates of birth and death has, in its brevity, much to recommend it.”
Michel Houellebecq
The Elementary Particles
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Similar quotes
“What will be left of all the fearing and wanting associated with your problematic life situation that every day takes up most of your attention? A dash, one or two inches long, between the date of birth and date of death on your gravestone.”
Eckhart Tolle
“Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death.”
Walter Benjamin
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
“It's interesting how people use that expression, life and death. As if to imply that life is the opposite of death, but birth is the opposite of death. Life...has no opposite.”
Dawson's Creek finale
“Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.”
Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
“It was almost funny. Life seemed downright accidental in its brevity, and death a punch line to a lousy joke.”
Maureen Johnson
The Name of the Star