Burton struggled to get up onto his feet. Nobody, not even God, was going to punch Richard Burton in the ribs and get away without a battle. - Philip José Farmer

His wife had held him in her arms as if she could keep death away from him. He had cried out, "My God, I am a dead man!"

Eyes forward! Sing a paean to the light
That God gives us to net the distant stars
In eyes that once were blinded with black earth.
Man had no time for aught but toll, no space
For aught but war. Yet God, in His great love,
Has cleared our eyes and given a hint of Power.

Tell me, is this true or is it just one of those tales that people like to make up to worry others?