When you look at it that way, you can see how absurd it is that we individualize ourselves with our fences and hoarded possessions.

Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left?

These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. There were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship. Money is no substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you as I'm sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.

Are you trying to be as human as you can be?

If the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers shed a tear for one another

For me, living means I can be responsive to the other person. It means I can show my emotions and my feelings. Talk to them. Feel with them.