Death is one of the few things that can be done as easily as lying down. The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you. 
Woody Allen 

Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. Matthew Arnold 

The words of a dead man are modified in the guts of the living. W. H. Auden 

I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death. Francis Bacon 

Men fear death as children fear to go into the dark; and as that 
natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. Francis Bacon 

When one by one our ties are torn, 
and friend from friend is snatched forlorn; 
When man is left alone to mourn, 
oh! then how sweet it is to die! Anna Letitia Barabauld 

Personally I have no bone to pick with graveyards, I take the air there willingly, perhaps more willingly than elsewhere, when take the air I must. Samuel Beckett   

Death is as sure for that which is born, 
as birth is for that which is dead. 
Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable.  Bhagavad Gita 

For ‘tis not in mere death that men die most.   
Elizabeth Barrett Browning  

I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead. Jimmy Buffet 

But, oh! fell death's untimely frost  
That nipt my flower sae early. Robert Burns, Highland Mary 

There is nothing which at once affects a man so much and so little as his own death. Samuel Butler  

Men are never really willing to die except for the sake of freedom:  therefore they do not believe in dying completely.  Albert Camus 

Woe, woe, woe... in a little while we shall all be dead. Therefore let us behave as though we were dead already.  Raymond Chandler 

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying. Jean Cocteau   

Her lips were red, her looks were free, 
Her locks were yellow as gold : 
Her skin was as white as leprosy, 
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, 
Who thicks man's blood with cold. Samuel Taylor Coleridge 

This suspence is killing me. I hope it lasts. Roald Dahl,  Willy Wonka 

While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die. Leonardo Da Vinci 

Death is a Dialogue between The Spirit and the Dust.   
Emily Dickinson   

When I die I want to decompose in a barrel of porter and have it served in all the pubs in Dublin. J. P. Donleavy  

When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, 
 but translated into a better language.  John Donne 

So softly death succeeded life in her,  
She did but dream of heaven, and she was there. John Dryden 

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear  
To be we know not what, we know not where. John Dryden 

I’m trying to die correctly, but it’s very difficult, you know. Lawrence Durrell  

Death is the king of this world: 'tis his park 
Where he breeds life to feed him. Cries of pain 
Are music for his banquet. George Eliot 

And what the dead had no speech for, when living, 
They can tell you, being dead: the communication 
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living. T.S. Eliot 

Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? Epicurus 

To die is a debt we must all of us discharge. Euripides, Alcesti 

Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave. Bishop Hall 

Let the world slide, let the world go; 
A fig for care, and a fig for woe! 
If I can't pay, why I can owe, 
And death makes equal the high and low.   John Heywood 

Pale death with an impartial foot knocks at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of king. Horace 

But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. 
You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. 
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;  
The earth will give birth to her dead. The Book of  Isaiah 26:19 

A person doesn't die when he should but when he can. Gabriel García Márquez 

The grave’s a fine and private place,  
But none, I think, do there embrace. Andrew Marvell  

The world is the mirror of myself dying.  Henry Miller 

O fairest flower! no sooner blown but blasted,  
Soft silken primrose fading timelessly. John Milton, Ode on the Death of a fair Infant, dying of a Cough. 

Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit  
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste  
Brought death into the world, and all our woe. John Milton, Paradise Lost 

I fled, and cry'd out, DEATH!  
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd  
From all her caves, and back resounded, DEATH! John Milton, Paradise Lost 

Before mine eyes in opposition sits  
Grim Death, my son and foe. John Milton, Paradise Lost 

Death Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear  
His famine should be fill'd. John Milton, Paradise Lost 

One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly. Nietzsche 

Resumé    
Razors pain you;   
Rivers are damp;   
Acids stain you;   
And drugs cause cramp.   
Guns aren't lawful;   
Nooses give;   
Gas smells awful;   
You might as well live. Dorothy Parker   

It costs me never a stab nor squirm 
To tread by chance upon a worm. 
'Aha, my little dear,' I say, 
'Your clan will pay me back one day.' Dorothy Parker 

Dying Is an art, like everything else.   
I do it exceptionally well.   
I do it so it feels like hell.   
I do it so it feels real.   
I guess you could say I’ve a call. Sylvia Plath   

Sleep, 
Those little slices of Death 
How I loathe them. Edgar Allen Poe 

War its thousands slays, Peace its ten thousands. Beilby Porteus, Death 

Teach him how to live,  
And, oh still harder lesson! how to die. Beilby Porteus, Death  

Death aims with fouler spite  
At fairer marks.  
Francis Quarles, Divine Poems 

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death. The Book Of Revelations 6:8 

Tis' strange that death should sing. 
I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan, 
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,  
And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings 
His soul and body to their lasting rest. William Shakespeare 

But I will be, 
A bridegroom in my death, and run into't 
As to a lover’s bed.  William Shakespeare 

But that the dread of something after death, 
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will 
And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of? William Shakespeare 

I would fain die a dry death. William Shakespeare, The Tempest 

And nothing can we call our own but death 
And that small model of the barren earth 
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones. 
For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground 
And tell sad stories of the death of kings. William Shakespeare 

Cowards die many times before their deaths; 
The valiant never taste of death but once. William Shakespeare 

Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.  George Bernard Shaw 

The glories of our blood and state  
Are shadows, not substantial things;  
There is no armour against fate;  
Death lays his icy hands on kings. James Shirley,  Contention of Ajax and Ulysses. 

Death calls ye to the crowd of common men. James Shirley, Cupid and Death. 

As men, we are all equal in the presence of death. Publius Syrus,  
Maxim 1. 

The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself. Publius Syrus, Maxim 511 

One owes respect to the Living. To the Dead, one owes only Truth. Voltaire 

I know death hath ten thousand several doors 
For men to take their exit. John Webster 

And I will show that nothing can happen more beautiful than death. Walt Whitman 

Time flies, death urges, knells call, Heaven invites,  Hell threatens. Edward Young 

While man is growing, life is in decrease; 
And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb. 
Our birth is nothing but our death begun. Edward Young 

Lovely in death the beauteous ruin lay; 
And if in death still lovely, lovelier there; 
Far lovelier! pity swells the tide of love. Edward Young 

Death loves a shining mark, a signal blow. Edward Young, Night Thoughts