simone de beauvoir - a very easy death

"I do not blame my father. It is tolerably well known that in men habit kills desire. Maman had lost her first freshness and he his ardour." [36]

"'If you had not lost your faith death would not terrify you so,' wrote the devout, with rancorous commiseration... And inwardly I told them all that they were wrong... Whether you think of it as heavenly or as earthly, if you love life immortality is no consolation for death." [92]

"'A corpse no longer means anything.'" [97]

"We were taking part in a dress rehearsal for our own burial. The misfortune is that although everyone must come to this, each experiences the adventure in solitude. We never left Maman during those last days which she confused with convalescence and yet we were profoundly separated from her." [99-100]