I have never observed that the religious are more eager to die than the rest of us poor mortals.

Once man was tossed about helplessly and incessantly by the wind that blew through him — now the toughest of all plants is more sensitive, more easily moved than he. In other words, death is better than life, nothing is better than anything. Nor is this a silly adolescent pessimism peculiar to Housman, as so many critics assure you. It is better to be dead than alive, best of all never to have been born — said a poet approvingly advertised as seeing life steadily and seeing it whole; and if I began an anthology of such quotations there it would take me a long time to finish. The attitude is obviously inadequate and just as obviously important.

If I convert it's because it's better that a believer dies than that an atheist does.

Sometimes dead is better

Better to die than to live in fear.

To die for a religion is easier than to live it absolutely.

If I were asked to choose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all.

Death is better than a vegetating ignorant life; it is better to die on the battle-field than to live a life of defeat.

Je préfère la vie à la mort, exister à ne pas exister, car je ne suis pas sûr d'être une fois que je n'existerai plus

To die is more important than trying to be alive. When we try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can be calm and die or fade away into emptiness, then naturally we will be all right.

It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly.

Was it better to die in the illusion of sunshine and warmth or face death in a cold darkness of reality? Was it better to die in happy ignorance or terrified knowledge? The answer, if you’re a Londoner, is that it’s better not to die at all.

It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die.

It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die