“T is not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.”

—  James Montgomery

The Issues of Life and Death.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "T is not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die." by James Montgomery?
James Montgomery photo
James Montgomery 25
British editor, hymn writer, and poet 1771–1854

Related quotes

Samuel Butler photo

“Memory and forgetfulness are as life and death to one another. To live is to remember and to remember is to live. To die is to forget and to forget is to die.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Antithesis
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part IV - Memory and Design

Eckhart Tolle photo

“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

“Why should I stay? Nor seed nor fruit have I,
But, sprung at once to beauty’s perfect round,
Nor loss nor gain nor change in me is found,—
A life-complete in death-complete to die.”

John B. Tabb (1845–1909) American poet

The Bubble, as quoted in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Swami Vivekananda photo

“Death is better than a vegetating ignorant life; it is better to die on the battle-field than to live a life of defeat.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Call to the Nation

David Foster Wallace photo

“Capital T-truth is about life before death.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

Source: This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien photo

“Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment, for even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) British philologist and author, creator of classic fantasy works

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”

Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist

Misattributed

Mark Twain photo

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Not by Twain, but from Edward Abbey's A Voice Crying In The Wilderness (1989).
Misattributed

Terry Pratchett photo

“If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

Final lines of his Richard Dimbleby lecture Shaking Hands With Death on euthanasia and assisted suicide, quoted in "Terry Pratchett: my case for a euthanasia tribunal" in The Guardian (2 February 2010) http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/feb/02/terry-pratchett-assisted-suicide-tribunal
General sources
Context: I dare say that quite a few people have contemplated death for reasons that much later seemed to them to be quite minor. If we are to live in a world where a socially acceptable "early death" can be allowed, it must be allowed as a result of careful consideration.
Let us consider me as a test case. As I have said, I would like to die peacefully with Thomas Tallis on my iPod before the disease takes me over and I hope that will not be for quite some time to come, because if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice.

Related topics