Quote

Hospice is such a tremendous thing. Patients seem to reach an inner peace.

A death from a long illness is very different from a sudden death. It gives you time to say goodbye and time to adjust to the idea that the beloved will not be with you anymore.

I am interested in the way advances in medicine and palliative care mean more people now have the opportunity to plan their own deaths, and also plan for those who are left behind. What does that do to the grieving process?

Probably most dying patients, even when suffering greatly, would choose to live as long as possible. That courage and grace should be protected and honored, and we should put every effort into treating their symptoms.

Life is a terminal condition. Were all going to die. Cancer patients just have more information, but we all, in some ways, wait for permission to live.

Mortality means you don't have forever to work things out. You can live your life unexamined but then on the last day you're going to think: 'I've left things a little late.'

The acceptance of death gives you more of a stake in life, in living life happily, as it should be lived. Living for the moment.

An awareness of one's mortality can lead you to wake up and live an authentic, meaningful life.

I did not fully understand the dread term 'terminal illness' until I saw Heathrow for myself.

I mean some doctor told me I had six months to live and I went to their funeral.