Ett praktiskt skämt

“Death teaches nothing, since we lose the benefit of the instruction that it might offer us by dying. It’s true, we think about the death of the other. We reconcile the impression that the death of the other gives us with ourselves. We often imagine ourselves in the position of those who we see dying, but we can only justifiably do this on the condition of living. Reflection on death is much more seriously derisive than living, it is always scattering our attention, and we speak in vain about exerting ourselves, when death is at stake.

Of course, talking about death is the most profound practical joke.”

Georges Bataille