“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”

Source: Meditations

Last update March 15, 2026. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." by Marcus Aurelius?

Marcus Aurelius400

Emperor of Ancient Rome 121–180

Adam Silvera book They Both Die at the End

Marcus Aurelius, p. 225
They Both Die at the End (2017)

“Why should man be afraid to think, and why should he fear to express his thoughts?”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

Heretics and Heresies (1874)
Context: Why should man be afraid to think, and why should he fear to express his thoughts?
Is it possible that an infinite Deity is unwilling that a man should investigate the phenomena by which he is surrounded? Is it possible that a god delights in threatening and terrifying men? What glory, what honor and renown a god must win on such a field! The ocean raving at a drop; a star envious of a candle; the sun jealous of a fire-fly.

“How does he do it? Live. With the fear of death every day. I don't fear death as much as I fear the thought of living.”

Julie Anne Peters (1952) American writer

Source: By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

“It is written that the last enemy to be vanquished is death. We should begin early in life to vanquish this enemy by obliterating every trace of the fear of death from our minds.”

Felix Adler (1851–1933) German American professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, and lecturer

Section 8 : Suffering and Consolation
Founding Address (1876), Life and Destiny (1913)
Context: It is written that the last enemy to be vanquished is death. We should begin early in life to vanquish this enemy by obliterating every trace of the fear of death from our minds. Then can we turn to life and fill the whole horizon of our souls with it, turn with added zest toall the serious tasks which it imposes and to the pure delights which here and there it affords.

“The fear of death is the beginning of slavery.”

Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath

Source: The Golden Apple

“I think all human beings are and should be fearful [of death, but realizing that death is a real tragedy.”

Ray Kurzweil (1948) Author, scientist, inventor, and futurist

Futurist Ray Kurweil Bring Dead Father Back to Life http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/futurist-ray-kurzweil-bring-dead-father-back-life/story?id14267712 (2011)