On the fear of death

"Men fear Death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other."

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Of Death

"All say, 'How hard it is that we have to die'- a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live."

Mark Twain (1835-1910), Pudd'nhead Wilson

"I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens."

Woody Allen (1935-), Getting Even

Quotes from The Oxford Book of Death, Ed. D J Enright.