„I am afeard there are few die well that die in battle, for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument?“
Source: Henry V
William Shakespeare688
English playwright and poet 1564 - 1616Related quotes
„We must all die!
All leave ourselves, it matters not where, when,
Nor how, so we die well; and can that man that does so
Need lamentation for him?“
Valentinian (1610–14; published 1647), Act IV, scene 4.
„There are few things easier than to live badly and to die well.“
— Oscar Wilde, Vera; or, The Nihilists
Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)
„How many different deaths I can die?“
— Sylvia Plath American poet, novelist and short story writer 1932 - 1963
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
„I should prefer that Fortune keep me in her camp rather than in the lap of luxury. If I am tortured, but bear it bravely, all is well; if I die, but die bravely, it is also well.“
— Seneca the Younger, book Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXVII: On Ill-Health and Endurance of Suffering
„To die,
so young to die.
No, no, not I,
I love the warm sunny skies,
light, song, shining eyes,
I want no war, no battle cry,
No, no, not I.“
— Hannah Senesh Jewish poet and anti-nazi fighter in World War II 1921 - 1944
„I don't care when I die, when you die, you die.“
— Ashraf Pahlavi Iranian royal 1919 - 2016
In Bitter American Exile, the Shah's Twin Sister, Ashraf, Defends Their Dynasty (1980)
Context: I don't care when I die, when you die, you die. What I don't want is to die in my bed. To be killed in an accident or to be shot is my preferred way to die.
„All these battles spring from themselves and necessitate each other to infinity! One single battle is not enough, it is not complete, there is no satisfaction. Nothing is finished, nothing is ever finished. Ah, it is only men who die! No one understands the greatness of things, and I know well that I do not understand all the horror in which I am.“
— Henri Barbusse French novelist 1873 - 1935
Light (1919), Ch. XV - An Apparition
Context: Hidden behind the horizons, living men unite with machines and fall furiously on space. They do not see their shots. They do not know what they are doing. "You shall not know; you shall not know."
But since the cannonade is returning, they will be fighting here again. All these battles spring from themselves and necessitate each other to infinity! One single battle is not enough, it is not complete, there is no satisfaction. Nothing is finished, nothing is ever finished. Ah, it is only men who die! No one understands the greatness of things, and I know well that I do not understand all the horror in which I am.
„Then were they afeard when they saw a knight.“
— Thomas Malory, book Le Morte d'Arthur
Book I, ch. 23
Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469) (first known edition 1485)
„What am I? I am the desire not to die.“
— Henri Barbusse French novelist 1873 - 1935
The Inferno (1917), Ch. XIV
Context: What am I? I am the desire not to die. I have always been impelled — not that evening alone — by the need to construct the solid, powerful dream that I shall never leave again. We are all, always, the desire not to die. This desire is as immeasurable and varied as life's complexity, but at bottom this is what it is: To continue to be, to be more and more, to develop and to endure. All the force we have, all our energy and clearness of mind serve to intensify themselves in one way or another. We intensify ourselves with new impressions, new sensations, new ideas. We endeavour to take what we do not have and to add it to ourselves. Humanity is the desire for novelty founded upon the fear of death. That is what it is.
„You have to die a few times before you can really
live.“
— Charles Bukowski, book The People Look Like Flowers at Last
Variant: You have to die a few times before you actually live.
Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last
„It's all God's will: you can die in your sleep, and God can spare you in battle.“
— Leo Tolstoy, book War and Peace
Source: War and Peace
„"Freedom!" their battle-cry,—
"Freedom! or leave to die!"“
— George Henry Boker American poet, playwright, and diplomat 1823 - 1890
The Black Regiment.
„Whoa there, lad! Whoa! Gentle now! Die well, die well.“
— Bernard Cornwell British writer 1944
Sergeant Michael Connelly, p. 184
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Sword (1983)
„That man lives badly who does not know how to die well.“
— Seneca the Younger Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4 - 65 BC
On Tranquility of the Mind
„Just when I thought I was learning how to live, 'twas then I realized I was learning how to die.“
— Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910
„Either communism must die or Christianity must die because it's actually a battle between Christ and anti-Christ.“
— Billy Graham American Christian evangelist 1918 - 2018
"Satan's Religion" in American Mercury (August 1954), p. 41