# Do you fear death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102 "2010-04-06T02:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/81 "2010-04-15T16:43:17Z")
I don’t fear death, or dying, unless it’s painful, then, a little bit. I fear surviving. I fear outliving my husband, and family and friends. My Granny lived to be 103yrs old. I don’t want that. I’m afraid by the time it’s my time, they’ll have found a way to keep us alive even longer. I don’t really want to live so long that I can’t really do much other than watch life pass me by. I’d sooner trip and die on some ill planned adventure at 70, than quietly, in my sleep, after 15yrs in a nursing home at 85. I love life and have tried to live it with real gusto. I cannot imagine a life where I have to be still. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/82 "2010-04-15T18:09:57Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I don’t fear death, or dying, unless it’s painful, then, a little bit. > > I fear surviving. I fear outliving my husband, and family and friends. My Granny lived to be 103yrs old. I don’t want that. I’m afraid by the time it’s my time, they’ll have found a way to keep us alive even longer. I don’t really want to live so long that I can’t really do much other than watch life pass me by. I’d sooner trip and die on some ill planned adventure at 70, than quietly, in my sleep, after 15yrs in a nursing home at 85. > > I love life and have tried to live it with real gusto. I cannot imagine a life where I have to be still. I agree. One of the hardest things I have had to do, was to visit my late uncle-he spent his last 8 years in a nursing home, surrounded by people who were in various stages of dementia. Not fun.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/83 "2010-04-15T18:20:40Z")
I don’t fear death. I’m not exactly all giggly thinking about it, mind you, but I don’t fear it. Oh, and I am hoping to continue my successful streak of days no becoming dead for many more years, because I have a lot of things I’d still like to do and see and experience. If anything, I always feel sad when _others_ die, because then I don’t have them in my life anymore. I get what **elbows** was saying up there, but I’m not bothered by surviving others. It’s just the way it is; some people live longer, some people die sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/84 "2010-04-15T19:28:31Z")
I don’t want to achieve immortality by my work, I want to achieve it by not dying. Also by Woody Allen. 🙂 I agree about not wanting to die a long lingering death. Especially in a lot of pain. I also think that for most people, the end must be a lot like falling asleep. Then not dreaming and never waking up. You’re just gone. I’ve often thought it would be nice if I could die saving a busload of kids or taking out a terrorist or some crazy with a gun. But most of us won’t do that. I guess my overwhelming reason for not wanting to die is that I’m not through playing yet. There’s so many things I like doing that I’d like to keep doing, and so many more things I’ve never tried. So I guess I don’t fear death, I just think it will be awfully inconvenient. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/85 "2010-04-16T03:44:42Z")
Death itself, no, not a bit as that will lead to eternal life with Lord Jesus and into a very loving family. The process that leads to death could seem unpleasant though. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102/86 "2010-04-16T04:33:27Z")
Being dead? No. Whatever happens then (presumably nothing, but while I don’t believe in an afterlife…well, dammit, I’d love to see my dad!) happens. That doesn’t bother me. Dying? Depending on the circumstances, quite possibly. I really did have a great-grandmother who had a good day, went to bed, and never woke up. At 92. I wouldn’t mind a death like that. But others, yes, some of the possibilities are pretty scary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-death/535102.md?page=4)