She is a 2007 inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She was the recipient of twenty honorary degrees and by July 1982 had taught, in her estimation, 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions. In 1970, she delivered the The Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immortality at the University of Harvard, on the theme, On Death and Dying.
And here are some of her quotes that I related to, and also some of my thoughts along with it.
“We run after values that, at death, become zero. At the end of your life, nobody asks you how many degrees you have, or how many mansions you built, or how many Rolls Royces you could afford. That’s what dying patients teach you.”
Live for the things that matter. Live for the things that you will not regret living for.
“Dying is nothing to fear. It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you have lived.”
The above quote reminds me of a quote by Randy Pausch, where he said, "We don't beat the reaper by living longer, but by living well, and living fully — for the reaper will come for all of us. The question is: what do we do between the time we're born and the time he shows up."
“There is no joy without hardship. If not for death, would we appreciate life? If not for hate, would we know the ultimate goal is love? … At these moments you can either hold on to negativity and look for blame, or you can choose to heal and keep on loving.”
My sentiments too. Life is about choices, and take responsibility over your own choices, because you made them.
“We make progress in society only if we stop cursing and complaining about its shortcomings and have the courage to do something about them.”
Think at a bigger level, think from a perspective larger than your own. Show, don't tell.
“You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.”
Life is, and has always been a journey. So long as you don't stop at any point, you will, and will always, come out a better person.
“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”
Too often, we take for granted our lives when we are young, for the simple reason that we are unable to see the end. When we have it, we do not cherish. When we lose it, we regret not cherishing. Really, time is all that you have.
“For those who seek to understand it, death is a highly creative force. The highest spiritual values of life can originate from the thought and study of death.”
This speaks for itself.
“I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.”
There is no one responsible for yourself other than yourself. With this, please take good care of yourself, because if you ever want to point a finger when something goes wrong, you should be pointing at yourself.
“Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death.”
Death does not hurt, guilt does.
“We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.”
Freedom of choice allows us to have nearly limitless options to live our live. And it is because of this vastness that makes each one of us powerful beyond comprehension, for the simple reason that we can, without a doubt, be who we want to be.
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