Death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter in 1789: “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But it wasn’t Franklin who coined this phrase. Remember Daniel Defoe, the creator of Robinson Crusoe? He first used these words in his work The Political History of the Devil in 1726: “Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believ’d.”
Taxes are just taxes, but death is a different story. The older one becomes (so it seems), the more one tends to think about death. And the more one tries to make sense of this ultimately incomprehensible concept.
In the film Patch Adams the dialogue contains a number of lines about death that have always appealed to me. Robin Williams (in the title role) delivered them as brilliantly as only he could. “Why can’t we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity, and decency, and God forbid, maybe even humour?”
Do you remember that heart-warming scene where Patch Adams is discussing death with his cancer patient, Bill Davies? They manage to soften the terrifying finality of Bill’s impending demise by outsmarting each other with different phrases describing death. It becomes a touching repartee.
Patch Adams: “Death. To expire. To perish. To peg out. To push up daisies. Dead as a doornail. Dead as a herring. Paying a debt to nature. The Big Sleep.” To which Bill Davies replies: “To check out.” Patch: “To shuffle off this mortal coil.” Bill: “To head for the happy hunting ground.” Patch: “To blink for an exceptionally long period of time.” Bill: “To find oneself without breath.” Patch: “Kick the bucket!” Bill: “Buy the farm.” Patch: “Take the cab.” Bill: “Cash in your chips.”
Let’s conclude with a quote from another film where death plays a central role. The narrator in The Book Thief: “One small fact: You are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever. Sorry to be such a spoiler. My advice is when the time comes, don’t panic. It doesn’t seem to help.”