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" The originator of the literary form we call the essay, the sixteenth-century Frenchman Michel de Montaigne, was a social philosopher who viewed mankind through the scrutinizing lens of unadorned and unforgiving reality and heard its self-deceits with the ear of the skeptic. In his fifty-nine years, he gave much thought to death, and wrote of the necessity to accept each of its various forms as being equally natural: "Your death is a part of the order of the universe, 'tis a part of the life of the world...'tis the condition of your creation." And in the same essay, entitled "To Study Philosophy Is to Learn to Die," he wrote, "Give place to others, as others have given place to you. "
― Sherwin B. Nuland , How We Die: Reflections of Life's Final Chapter
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" All along the way, family members have been experiencing feelings of ambivalence, helplessness, and crisis. They fear what they are seeing, as well as what they have yet to see. No matter how often they are reminded, many people persist in believing they are permitting conscious suffering. And yet, it is always so hard to let go. Such legal instruments as living wills and durable power of attorney may function as so-called advance directives, but all too often they do not exist; a grieving wife or husband, or children already struggling with family problems of their own, are adrift in a sea of conflicting emotions. The difficulty of deciding is compounded by the difficulty of living with what has been decided. "
― Sherwin B. Nuland , How We Die: Reflections of Life's Final Chapter