An individual human existence should be like a river –
small at first, narrowly contained within it’s banks,
and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls.
Gradually, the river grows wider, the banks recede,
the waters flow more quietly, and – in the end –
without any visible break, they become merged in
the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.
The man or woman, who, in old age,
can see his or her life in this way,
will not suffer from the fear of death,
since the things they care for will continue.
Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)
