“I’m an Atheist…thank God.”

Dave Allen, on God, death and the church has always been a source of inspiration and amusement to me.

I can sometimes be accused of having an unhealthy obsession with death.
‘But we will all die’ I will say.
‘Yes but I don’t want to think about it’ comes the reply.
That’s fair enough, who wants to think about dying? But what about thinking of living. Procrastination something to think about? Death is all about life.

Oh and cake. You will see the reference to Kipling below. Personally I think he should have stopped at the Jungle Book and not started making Bakewell Tarts.

Our next Death Cafe is on the 30th April at The Quaker Meeting House in Bury St Edmunds from 7.00 – 10.00 PM. Lots of details about it on the site.

I’ve assembled a few quotes below on life death and cake. Many people have talked about it far more eloquently than I ever could

“Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.” – Les Brown

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true”. – Steve Jobs

“Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, ‘Did you bring joy?’ The second was, ‘Did you find joy?” – Leo Buscaglia

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” – Pope Paul VI

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” – Mark Twain

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Dying is like coming to the end of a long novel–you only regret it if the ride was enjoyable and left you wanting more”. Jerome P Crabbe

“At my age, I’m often asked if I’m frightened of death and my reply is always, I can’t remember being frightened of birth”. – Peter Ustinov

“Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you” – Dave Allen

“I don’t go out of my way to be outrageous, I just go out of my way to look at things.” – Dave Allen

“Mr Kipling does make exceedingly good cakes.”