“Man is the only animal that contemplates death, and also the only animal that shows any sign of doubt of its finality.”

— William Ernest Hocking

The Meaning of Immortality in Human Experience (1957), p. 5.
Context: Man is the only animal that contemplates death, and also the only animal that shows any sign of doubt of its finality. This does not mean that he doubts it as a future fact. He accepts his own death, with that of others, as inevitable; plans for it; provides for the time when he shall be out of the picture. Yet, not less today than formerly, he confronts this fact with a certain incredulity regarding the scope of its destruction.

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William Ernest Hocking31

American philosopher 1873–1966

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