I was watchin T.V. the other night and while channel surfing came across a program that got me thinking. I cant remember what the program was, but it got me thinking about the different things you read on peoples headstones' epitaphs at the cemetery.
For example Spike Milligan's headstone is rumoured to read: "I told them I was ill". Others that I found after a short search with Google include: Karl Marx (founder of communism); "Workers of all lands unite. The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." - Wyatt and Josephine Earp (Sherrif of Tombstone- cowboy era); "Nothing's so sacred as honour, and nothing's so loyal as love." Dean Martin (Actor Singer and member of the Rat Pack); "Everybody loves somebody sometime." Isaac Newton; "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, 'Let Newton be!' and all was light." Benjamin Frankin; "The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents worn out, and stript of its lettering and gilding) lies here, food for worms. Yet the work itself shall not lost, for it will, as he believed, appear once more In a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by its Author." Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier by W. H. Auden; "To save your world you asked this man to die: Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?"
As you can see, some are amusing, some are clever and some are truly profound. Each epitaph says much about the person who lies beneath the stone and dirt. I particularly like the epitaph for the unknown soldier.
What sort of impact will you leave?
What will people say about you when you are gone?
What would you like your epitaph to say on your headstone?
Showing posts with label karl marx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karl marx. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)