A Dying Monk’s Last Piece of Advice
Honouring death reminds us how to live
Have you ever imagined what your last words on Earth would be?
Maybe you’d impart a piece of wisdom like Bob Marley did. Or perhaps you’d take a leaf out of Oscar Wilde’s book and make one last witty comment while you still could...
For most of us, having the perfect one-liner at hand is probably unlikely. But, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be intrigued about people who managed to do just that.
Before I share what a dying monk’s last piece of advice was, here are some of my favourites:
“Money can’t buy life” — Bob Marley
Mr. Reggae spoke these words to Ziggy — his son — before he died of cancer in 1981, aged 36.
“Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough” — Karl Marx
The German philosopher shouted these words to his housekeeper in 1883 after she asked him whether he had anything left to say.
“I hope the exit is joyful and hope never to return” — Frida Kahlo
These melancholic words sum up the iconic Mexican artist’s turbulent life.
“Dammit, don’t you dare ask God to help me” — Joan Crawford
These words are from Hollywood legend Joan Crawford who also shouted at her housekeeper as she began to pray out loud at the actor’s bedside.
Note to self: Don’t be a housekeeper at the time of death.
“I’m bored with it all” — Winston Churchill
The man who led Britain through World War Two always kept things simple.
“I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord”— Bessie Smith
Lauded as “The Empress of the Blues”, Smith was one of the most celebrated singers of the 1920s and 30s before her death in 1937.
“All my possessions for a moment of time!” — Queen Elizabeth I
A humbling reminder that everything in life is transient, a fleeting moment in the great cosmic unfolding and that even a queen must bow to the passage of time.
“Goodnight my darlings, I’ll see you tomorrow” — Noel Coward
The playwright died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Jamaica in 1974, after an evening with friends. If there’s ever a way to go, this feels just about perfect.
“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go” — Oscar Wilde
Witty and dry-humoured until the end, the Irish playwright reportedly spoke these words to friends in the weeks leading up to his death in 1900.
Talking of humorous last liners and why I took you down this nostalgic rabbit hole, here are a dying monk’s last thoughts before he died:
“If I could only give one last piece of advice, it would be: don’t lose your sense of humour. It’s not that life isn’t serious. It is serious. But without a sense of humor, any paradise is hell. And with a sense of humour, any hell can be a paradise.”
It’s so great.
I’ve also experienced it personally.
During my years travelling the world, I visited some of the most beautiful places on Earth and felt lonely. I then visited some of the grimiest places and felt alive.
When things got really tough, my brother and I would often end up in fits of giggles because we were working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, and living off one shared microwave meal a day.
It was serious and there were down moments, don’t get me wrong, but the silliest of it all was too much to take.
“Life as it is should be enough of a reason to laugh.
It is so absurd, it is so ridiculous.
It is so beautiful, it is so wonderful.
It is all sorts of things together.
It is a great cosmic joke.”
— Unknown
So, here are my final thoughts:
Don’t forget to smile today. Don’t forget to laugh either. While you’re at it, sing, dance, and enjoy this crazy ride until you wake up tomorrow and do it all again.
