Consolatio tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-102987 2010-07-17T08:31:51+02:00 Consolation in time of grief TypePad Lament of the wife of Áed mac Ainmirech tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0133f257fb99970b 2010-07-17T08:31:51+02:00 2010-07-17T08:31:51+02:00 Beloved to me-- three sides I cannot hope to see again: the side of Tailltiu, the side of Tara, and the side of Aedh son of Ainmire. --Lament written in 7th- or 8th-century Ireland, ascribed to the wife of the... Sedulia Gogol: What grief does not time bear away? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef013484ef302d970c 2010-06-25T21:42:04+02:00 2010-06-25T21:42:40+02:00 At that minute she was not thinking of the great moment awaiting her, nor of her soul, nor of her own future life: she was thinking only of her poor companion with whom she had spent her life and whom... Sedulia Chekhov on wishing for death in a hopeless illness tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef013484aae4ef970c 2010-06-20T14:53:05+02:00 2010-06-20T14:57:13+02:00 Whenever there is someone in a family who has long been ill, and hopelessly ill, there come painful moments when all timidly, secretly, at the bottom of their hearts long for his death. --Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), in "The Witch," chapter... Sedulia Riley: He is not dead. He is just away tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef01348311a544970c 2010-06-12T13:24:01+02:00 2010-06-12T13:19:36+02:00 I cannot say, and will not say that he is dead. He is just away. With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand, he has wandered into an unknown land and left us dreaming how very fair it... Sedulia Derek Walcott: Half my friends are dead tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0134840da0ca970c 2010-06-12T12:24:50+02:00 2010-06-12T12:24:50+02:00 Sea Canes Half my friends are dead. I will make you new ones, said earth. No, give me them back, as they were, instead, with faults and all, I cried. Tonight I can snatch their talk from the faint surf's... Sedulia Old Irish: Cold is the wind tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0133f0981424970b 2010-06-10T21:34:02+02:00 2010-06-10T21:35:51+02:00 Cold is the wind through the doorway of the soldiers' house; beloved the soldiers who stood between us and the wind. --Old Irish, recited by Rónán in the tragic tale "Fingal Rónáin." This and many other Old Irish translations are... Sedulia Somerset Maugham: Have nothing to do with death tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0134828d04ae970c 2010-06-01T05:17:19+02:00 2010-06-01T05:17:19+02:00 Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. --Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), quoted in Conversations with Willie (1978) by his nephew Robin Maugham (1916-1981) Sedulia Robert Browning: Fear death? -- I was ever a fighter, so -- one fight more! tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0134817bdd73970c 2010-05-23T17:34:31+02:00 2010-05-23T17:34:31+02:00 I was ever a fighter, so-- one fight more, the best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, and bade me creep past. No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my... Sedulia Vissi d'arte: Why, why, Lord? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef01310fbfb43c970c 2010-03-20T08:27:27+01:00 2010-05-26T22:49:17+02:00 I lived for art, I lived for love, I never hurt a living soul! I helped whenever I heard about misery. Always with earnest faith my prayer went up from the holy shrines. Always with earnest faith I gave flowers... Sedulia Steve Jobs: Everything falls away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c82d353ef0120a8db3b0f970b 2010-02-27T06:54:58+01:00 2010-02-27T06:56:32+01:00 Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these... Sedulia