"Doesn't living sometimes feel like a burden? The daily routines of self-maintenance. The tediousness. The same old conversations. Aches and pains that, however difficult to endure, become too boring to talk about yet again. There is the dread of winter, escalating fuel bills, aching joints, the difficulty of even going out when the weather is punishing, the terror of slipping on the ice and breaking bones. Such dreaded events are very familiar to many people in their twilight years. How many in their sixties are already wondering how long they have to go on? There is less novelty in experiences, perhaps especially for the poor, and people find themselves endlessly repeating stories from earlier years and decades, embarrassing those who have already heard from dozens of times. A pole apart from the fear of death is this longing for it, but this cannot be discussed; it's a dirty secret. We have to be thankful for life."
