Explore "Of Meditation Upon Death" by Thomas à Kempis on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Very quickly will there be an end of thee here; take heed therefore how it will be with thee in another world. Today man is, and tomorrow he will be seen no more. And being removed out of sight, quickly also he is out of mind. O the dullness and hardness of man's heart, which thinketh only of the present, and looketh not forward to the future. Thou oughtest in every deed and thought so to order thyself, as if thou wert to die this day. If thou hadst a good conscience thou wouldst not greatly fear death. It were better for thee to watch against sin, than to fly from death. If today thou art not ready, how shalt thou be ready tomorrow? Tomorrow is an uncertain day; and how knowest thou that thou shalt have a tomorrow?
What doth it profit to live long, when we amend so little? Ah! long life doth not always amend, but often the more increaseth guilt. Oh that we might spend a single day in this world as it ought to be spent! Many there are who reckon the years since they were converted, and yet oftentimes how little is the fruit thereof. If it is a fearful thing to die, it may be perchance a yet more fearful thing to live long. Happy is the man who hath the hour of his death always before his eyes, and daily prepareth himself to die. If thou hast ever seen one die, consider that thou also shalt pass away by the same road.