November 2, 2011 is official “Plan Your Epitaph Day.”
I’m not sure I want to know what they will say about me when I’m gone. I’m even less sure I can sum myself up in 50 words or less. Most likely something on the order of “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Yeah, make em wonder.
In the spirit of the occasion, here are a few famous epitaphs you may or may not have heard:
Sir Isaac Newton: “Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night: God said, ‘Let Newton be!’ and all was light.” (March 20th 1727)
Allan Pinkerton: “A friend to honesty and a foe to crime.”
Benjamin Franklin: “The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents worn out, and stript of its lettering and gilding) lies here, food for
worms. Yet the work itself shall not lost, for it will, as he believed, appear once more In a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by its Author.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: “Steel True, Blade Straight.”
William Shakespeare: GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE. BLEST BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES AND
CURST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.
(Dentist) John Brown: “Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity! John Brown is filling his last cavity.”
And finally, one to think on.
From the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: “To save your world, you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?”
Now, having considered mortality … go make today worth living.