Francis Bacon wrote, "It is as natural to die as to be born," while Socrates told the judges who condemned him, "And now we go our ways, I to die and you to live. Which is better is known to God alone."
Death often came in startling ways for these well-known writers. The playwright Aeschylus was conked by a turtle falling from the sky. Christopher Marlowe was stabbed in a barroom brawl. Molière collapsed while playing the role of a hypochondriac in one of his plays.
Edgar Allan Poe was found semicomatose in someone else's clothes shortly before he died. Sherwood Anderson was felled by a toothpick in a martini. Did Dylan Thomas really die of eighteen straight whiskeys? And was it a bottle cap or murder that did in Tennessee Williams?
If these authors have lessons for us, the best may be that of Marcus Aurelius: "Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back."
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 9, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781666102895
- File size: 292232 KB
- Duration: 10:08:48
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Languages
- English
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
subjects
Languages
- English
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