"To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallen will scarcely be denied by those who think. The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague."
The Fiddler (1854) Herman Melville
"With genius and without fame, he is happier than a king. More a prodigy now than ever."
Boons of Life (1902) Mark Twain
"In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket, and said: 'Here are gifts. Take one, leave the others. And be wary, chose wisely; oh, choose wisely! for only one of them is valuable.' The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, Death."
Harrison Bergeron (1961) Kurt Vonnegut
"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way."
