Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels.

The second fact that we have to comprehend is that in our unconscious mind we cannot distinguish between a wish and a deed.

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield but to my own strength. Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom. Grant me that I may not be a

Fear can’t stop death, but it can stop you from living a full life—remember to live in the moment and push fear aside as much as you can. Play is as important for adults as it is for children; take time to add play and joy to your life.

“Unfinished business is the biggest problem in life. . . . the more lessons we learn the more business we finish, and the more fully we live, really live life.” (Life Lessons, p. xvi)

“We cannot help the terminally ill patient in a really meaningful way if we do not include his family.” (On Death and Dying)

“The question should not be stated, ‘Do I tell my patient [or loved one]?’ but should be rephrased as, ‘How do I share this knowledge with my patient [or loved one]?’” (On Death and Dying)

“I believe that we should make it a habit to think about death and dying occasionally, I hope before we encounter it in our own life. . . . It may be a blessing, therefore, to use the time of illness to think about death and dying in terms of ourselves.” (On Death and Dying

This may also be a contributing factor why so many patients and their family members, like Mrs. G. (Chapter VII), get some pleasure in visiting other perhaps more seriously ill patients. Sister I. used these visits as an expression of hostility, namely, to elicit patients’ needs and to prove to the nursing staff that they were not efficient