Better far for me to die today,
Than live a long and evil life.
However great may be my length of days,
The pain of dying will be all the same.
One man dreams he lives a hundred years
Of happiness, but then he wakes.
Another dreams an instant's joy, but then he, likewise, wakes.
And when they wake, the happiness of both
Is finished, never to return.
Likewise, when the hour of death comes around,
Our lives are over, whether brief or long.
Though we be rich in worldly goods,
Delighting in out wealth for many years,
Despoiled and stripped as though by thieves,
We must go naked and with empty hands.
By Shantideva from Bodhicharyavatara.
