Consciously or not, we are all on a quest for answers, trying to learn the lessons of life. We grapple with fear and guilt. We search for meaning, love, and power. We try to understand fear, loss, and time. We seek to discover who we are and how we can become truly happy.

I always say that death can be one of the greatest experiences ever. If you live each day of your life right, then you have nothing to fear.

How do the geese know when to fly to the sun?

Those who learned to know death, rather than to fear and fight it, become our teachers about life.

We have to ask ourselves whether medicine is to remain a humanitarian and respected profession or a new but depersonalized science in the service of prolonging life rather than diminishing human suffering.

I say to people who care for people who are dying, if you really love that person and want to help them, be with them when their end comes close. Sit with them - you don't even have to talk. You don't have to do anything but really be there with them.

There is no problem that is not actually a gift.