What is the source and substance of this quote about dying?

November 19, 2008 2:43 AM

Help me identify this quote about death, dying, and the end of the world!

I have only the vaguest clues to go by, but I heard a quotation something like: if you want to make a dying man happy tell him everyone else is dying also. I don't remember where I read or heard the quote, and I don't remember who it was attributed to, though for some reason Sartre or Freud come to mind. Is this familiar to anyone? Google is failing me (or vice versa).

posted by Doug to Religion & Philosophy (1 answer total)

Sounds a little like this, from Walker Percy's Thanatos Syndrome: "Death makes honest men of all of us. Everyone else lies. Everyone else is dying too and spending their entire lives lying to themselves. I'll tell you the truth: It makes people happy to tell the truth after a lifetime of lying."
posted by fidelity at 6:55 AM on November 19, 2008 [1 favorite]