Would that death were like this. Would that one would sleep and sleep and sleep forever.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a longing for eternal rest, likening death to a peaceful sleep.
Anne Rice's quote expresses a deep yearning for the tranquil relief that death might bring, suggesting a desire for an end to suffering and an escape into eternal rest. It captures a contemplative perspective on the nature of mortality, conveying both a wistful acceptance and a profound longing for peace in the face of life’s struggles.
In practice
In a reflective eulogy, one might say, 'As Anne Rice put it, would that death were like this, a peaceful sleep.'
From my stone pillow I have dreamed dreams of the mortal world above. I have heard its voices, its new music, as lullabies as I lie in my grave. I have envisioned its fantastical discoveries. I have known its courage in the timeless sanctum of my thoughts. And though it shuts me out with its dazzling forms, I long for one with the strength to roam it fearlessly, to ride the Devil's Road through its heart.
We all suffer under a curse, the curse that we know more than we can endure, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do about the force and the lure of this knowledge.
And so this young one, this young one whom I had so loved, I had to forsake, no matter how broken my heart, no matter how lonely my soul, no matter how bruised my intellect and spirit.
Dear God, help me. Do not forget me on this tiny cinder lost in a galaxy that is lost–a heart no bigger than a speck of dust beating, beating against death, against meaninglessness, against guilt, against sorrow.
The vampires have always been metaphors for me. They've always been vehicles through which I can express things I have felt very, very deeply.
In the very depths of Hell, do not demons love one another?
There is no other world. Nor even this one. What, then, is there? The inner smile provoked in us by the patent nonexistence of both.
Only great souls know the grandeur there is in charity.
The truth is humbling, terrifying, and often exhilarating. It blows the doors off the hinges and fills the world with fresh air.
Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he's copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day.
I have here only made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own but the thread that tied them together.
The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.
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