No one has reached maturity until he has learned to face the fact of his own death and shaped his way of living accordingly.

Then the true perspective emerges. The preoccupation with material things, with accumulating goods or fame or power, is exposed.

Then each morning seems new and fresh, as indeed it is. Every flower, every leaf, every greeting from a friend, every letter from a distance, every poem and every song strikes with double impact, as if we were sensing it for the first and for the last time.

Once we accept the fact that we shall disappear, we also discover the larger self which relates us to our family and friends, to our neighborhood and community, to nation and humanity, and, indeed, to the whole creation out of which we have sprung. We are a part of all this, too, and death cannot entirely withdraw us from it. To the extent that we have poured ourselves into all these related groups and persons, we live on in them.

–Bradford Smith in Pendle Hill Pamphlet 142: Dear Gift of Life: A Man’s Encounter with Death