A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle;...they
squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages
over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those
they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching
grief. It (the release) comes at last--the only unpoisoned gift earth
ever had for them--and they vanish from a world where they were of no
consequence,...a world which will lament them a day and forget them
forever.

Mark Twain shortly before his death.