Famous Eulogies
Posted on July 3, 2008
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Death is a part of life that no one wants to have to face. It is a time of great grief and can be difficult to accept. The loss of a loved one can make it hard to express how much you loved them. During this time many people find it difficult to find the right words that would describe the person in the proper way. Writing a eulogy for lost loved one can be made even more difficult when you do not know what to say. For this reason, here are a few short samples of famous eulogies that have been given in years past.
Here is a sample of the eulogy written by George W. Bush to Gerald Ford.
“We are here today to say goodbye to a great man. Gerald Ford was born and reared in the American heartland. He belonged to a generation that measured men by their honesty and their courage. He grew to manhood under the roof of a loving mother and father
This is a sample of the eulogy that Bindi Irwin gave in honor of her father Steve Irwin.
“My Daddy was my hero – he was always there for me when I needed him. He listened to me and taught me so many things…”
This eulogy sample was give by Charles Spencer to his sister Princess Diana.
Few Words About Eulogy Poems
Posted on January 8, 2008
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A eulogy poem is a special form of prose written to offer comfort to the bereaved. Since death is a certain fact that in most cases would cause grief and bereavement to the deceased’s family, the existence and creation of eulogies is also certain. Because of this fact, eulogy poem writing has found its niche as a specialty subject available in the World Wide Web through various bereavement focused sites.
Writing eulogy poems usually do not follow a certain rigid format but a few sensible tips would be of great help. Since a death is always associated with a painful loss, poems should be in an uplifting and inspirational tone. As much as the poem is written as a tribute to the deceased, it should also be considered as a reassurance to the living.
A poem attributed to Mary E. Frye entitled “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”, presents a poignant plea of reassurance from the departed for the living not to weep for the dead did not die but has become part of the world as fragments of light, wind and rain. This type of short poem exemplifies the theme of reassurance to the living that death is not the cessation of life but a continuation.
Eulogy Quotes and Sayings about Death ~ H to L
Posted on July 7, 2007
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~Horace~
Years, following years, steal something every day;
At last they steal us from ourselves away.
~Herodotus~
Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men.
~Homer, Iliad~
Life and death are balanced on the edge of a razor.
~Homer, Iliad~
And they die an equal death - the idler and the man of mighty deeds.
~H.L. Mencken~
When I die I shall be content to vanish into nothingness…. No show, however good, could conceivably be good forever…. I do not believe in immortality, and have no desire for it.
~Henry David Thoreau, 11 March 1842, letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson~
Death is beautiful when seen to be a law, and not an accident - It is as common as life.
~Harvey Cushing~
There is only one ultimate and effectual preventive for the maladies to which flesh is heir, and that is death.
~Isaac Asimov~
If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.
~James F. Bymes~
Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.
~Jacques Rigaut, Pensées~
God is growing bitter, He envies man his mortality.
~Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu~
Old persons are sometimes as unwilling to die as tired-out children are to say good night and go to bed.
~J.J. Furnas~
Death is a low chemical trick played on everybody except sequoia trees.
Eulogy Quotes and Sayings about Death ~ M to R
Posted on July 7, 2007
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~Madame de Stael~
We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.
~Mark Twain~
All say, “How hard it is that we have to die” - a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
~Mark Twain~
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
~Marcel Proust~
People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is as though they were traveling abroad.
~Marcel Proust~
We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance.
~Maurice Maeterlinck~
All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than animals that know nothing.
~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations~
Death is a release from the impressions of sense, and from impulses that make us their puppets, from the vagaries of the mind, and the hard service of the flesh.
Eulogy Quotes and Sayings about Death ~ S to W
Posted on July 7, 2007
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~Samuel Butler~
To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead.
~Seneca~
The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.
~Sigmund Freud~
The goal of all life is death.
~Socrates~
Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.
~Susan Ertz, Anger in the Sky~
Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
~Steven Stiles~
God made death so we’d know when to stop.
~Steven Wright~
I intend to live forever. So far, so good.
~Stewart Alsop~
A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.
~Tennessee Williams, “The Rose Tattoo”~
Time rushes towards us with its hospital tray of infinitely varied narcotics, even while it is preparing us for its inevitably fatal operation.
~Thomas Browne, An Essay on Death~
I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.
~Toni Morrison~
Birth, life, and death — each took place on the hidden side of a leaf.
~Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain~
A man’s dying is more the survivors’ affair than his own.
~The Epic of Gilgamesh~
You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping.
Eulogy Quotes and Sayings about Death ~ D to G
Posted on July 7, 2007
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~Doris Day~
The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it.
~Denis Leary~
Most people think life sucks, and then you die. Not me. I beg to differ. I think life sucks, then you get cancer, then your dog dies, your wife leaves you, the cancer goes into remission, you get a new dog, you get remarried, you owe ten million dollars in medical bills but you work hard for thirty five years and you pay it back and then one day you have a massive stroke, your whole right side is paralyzed, you have to limp along the streets and speak out of the left side of your mouth and drool but you go into rehabilitation and regain the power to walk and the power to talk and then one day you step off a curb at Sixty-seventh Street, and BANG you get hit by a city bus and then you die. Maybe.
~David Sarnoff~
We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.
~Edvard Munch~
From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.
~Edward Young, Night Thoughts~
Our birth is nothing but our death begun.
~Emily Dickinson~
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality
~Emily Bronte~
Oh, for the time when I shall sleep
Without identity.
Eulogy Quotes and Sayings about Death ~ A to C
Posted on July 7, 2007
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~Aeschylus, Agamemnon~
There’s nothing certain in a man’s life except this: That he must lose it.
~Amelia Burr~
Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.
~Ambrose Bierce~
Embalm, v.:To cheat vegetation by locking up the gases upon which it feeds. By embalming their dead and thereby deranging the natural balance between animal and vegetable life, the Egyptians made their once fertile and populous country barren and incapable of supporting more than a meagre crew. The modern metallic burial casket is a step in the same direction, and many a dead man who ought now to be ornamenting his neighbor’s lawn as a tree, or enriching his table as a bunch of radishes, is doomed to a long inutility. We shall get him after awhile if we are spared, but in the meantime the violet and the rose are languishing for a nibble at his glutaeus maximus.
~Anais Nin~
People living deeply have no fear of death.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery~
He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.
~Andrew A. Rooney~
Death is a distant rumor to the young.
~Albert Einstein~
Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.
Remember These Tips When Sending Sympathy Flowers
Posted on June 23, 2007
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Funerals are emotional events that call for a lot of sensitivity. Flowers or plants at this time are a way of showing that you care and often express what is difficult to put into words. They also add an element of warmth to the occasion.
Sympathy flowers are usually sent to the funeral home or mortuary where the ‘wake’ is being held by the family members. They may also be carried to the church at the time of the funeral service.
The following points should be considered when sending sympathy flowers:
1. Timing. Ideally flowers should be sent to the funeral home, church or mortuary prior to the first visitation hours. If for whatever reason, your flowers cannot be delivered early, they should be delivered before any additional visitations. Delivering flowers just as the visitation hours are ending or rushing them to the grave side is considered a faux pas as it tends to cause inconvenience.
2. Deliver flowers to the residence of the bereaved family members. This is especially true if you are closer to a member of the family than you were to the deceased person. It is considered good etiquette to send flowers to the homes of family members up to a month after the funeral. This shows them that they are still in your thoughts and is very comforting.
The Tradition Of Funerals
Posted on June 23, 2007
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Death, unfortunately and inevitably, is a part of the cycle of life. Of course, this inevitability means that at one time or another in the course of our lives, we will be faced with the death of a loved one. At such times, along with the despair and grief, comes the necessity of making arrangements. Funerals are a part of the ceremony of death, varying depending on culture, religion, and geographical location. But, no matter how they are performed, funerals share common ground in that they honor the life and memory of the deceased and offer a final goodbye for their family.
No funeral is the same, as no person is the same. While there are generalities to modern funerals, there are also personal touches added to reflect the unique personality of the deceased and personalize the services. Funerals may begin, depending on the family background, with a wake or viewing. While open casket viewings continue to be customary, some families choose to close the casket and instead display pictures of the deceased.
Funerals will normally also include a service of some kind. A service can be held at a funeral parlor or in a church, synagogue, or other place of worship depending upon the family’s particular traditions. Many people choose to personalize this portion of funerals by including readings by loved ones or excerpts from poems or literature that was particularly special to the deceased.
How To Create A Memorable and Interesting Eulogy
Posted on June 22, 2007
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“Although it is difficult today to see beyond the sorrow,
May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow” - Author unknown
To put it simply, a eulogy is a formal expression of praise for someone who passed away recently. Great eulogies add to the grandeur and the sublimity of a funeral. Some funerals become memorable because of the eloquent and moving eulogies that break upon the audience in tender waves of pain and remembrance. When Princess Di passed away, her brother immortalized her funeral service with this remark, “the greatest irony of her life is that a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was the most hunted person of the modern age.”
Unfortunately, the ancient art of eulogizing is becoming rarer and rarer. Many families have to make do without a eulogy because of the inability to write or the unwillingness to deliver a eulogy. So, some funerals are forced to fall back upon the clergy for a token eulogy. When the person writing the eulogy does not know the deceased it makes for poor text indeed.
How to write a eulogy:
Writing a eulogy does not have to be an excruciatingly painful experience. After all, a eulogy is a great way to acknowledge and remember a person who has passed away. Eulogies offer some basic information about the deceased. But a eulogy that is an objective rendering of a handful of important dates and events is boring at best, painful at worst.