The average human lifespan is absoredly, terrifyingly, insultingly short
Page 234. The average human lifespan is absoredly, terrifyingly, insultingly short. But that isn’t a reason for unremitting despair.
— from The Landing (Death) · Four Thousand Weeks-Time Management for Mortals, written by Oliver Burkeman
In the book
Even if it should turn out that there is nothing at all past the grave, accepting the inevitability of the ending is exactly what frees you to enjoy the gift of the days you do have — because fretting over the end only erodes whatever number of days you were given. The human lifespan is, I will grant you, absurdly, almost insultingly short; one whole book of our scriptures even dares to say that the dead are more fortunate than the living, and the unborn more fortunate still, for not having seen the troubles done under the sun. But brevity has never once been a true reason for despair. […] The human lifespan is, I will grant you, absurdly, almost insultingly short; one whole book of our scriptures even dares to say that the dead are more fortunate than the living, and the unborn more fortunate still, for not having seen the troubles done under the sun. But brevity has never once been a true reason for despair. Brevity is the reason for attention. — The Landing (Death)