It must be so--Plato, thou reasonest well!--
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing read more

It must be so--Plato, thou reasonest well!--
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing after immortality?
Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror,
O falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
'Tis the divinity that stirs within us;
'Tis heaven itself, that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.

To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake

To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake

There is nothing strictly immortal, but immortality. Whatever
hath no beginning may be confident of no end.

There is nothing strictly immortal, but immortality. Whatever
hath no beginning may be confident of no end.

A book is the only immortality.

A book is the only immortality.

'Tis immortality to die aspiring,
As if a man were taken quick to heaven.

'Tis immortality to die aspiring,
As if a man were taken quick to heaven.

Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond;
But is there anything Beyond?

Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond;
But is there anything Beyond?

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to
achieve immortality through not dying.

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to
achieve immortality through not dying.

Do you believe in immortality? No, and one life is enough for
me.

Do you believe in immortality? No, and one life is enough for
me.

Immortality is the genius to move others long after you yourself have stopped moving.

Immortality is the genius to move others long after you yourself have stopped moving.