Book 1, Chapter 31

75 “What else are we doing when we draw the soul away from pleasure—that is, from the body—from property, the body’s servant and attendant, from public affairs and every occupation? What, I ask, are we doing then but calling the soul back to itself, compelling it to keep its own company, and drawing it as far as possible from the body? And to separate the soul from the body is nothing else but learning to die. So let us practice this, believe me, and part ourselves from our bodies: that is, let us grow accustomed to dying. While we are on earth this will resemble that heavenly life, and when we are freed from these chains and borne there, our souls’ journey will be less impeded. For those who have always been fettered to the body move more slowly even when released, like people who have been bound in iron for many years. Only when we have reached that place shall we truly live. For this present life is death—a theme I could lament, if I chose.”

“You lamented it quite enough in your Consolation;

76 “when I read it, there is nothing I desire more than to leave these things behind, and much more so after what I have just heard.”

“The time will come, and quickly too, whether you hold back or hurry: life flies. Death is so far from being an evil, as you thought a little while ago, that I fear there may be nothing else more certainly free of evil for a human being, nothing else more truly good—if indeed we are to become either gods ourselves or companions of the gods […]”

“What difference does that make?”

“There are people who do not accept these views. But I shall never let you leave this conversation with any possible reason for thinking death an evil.”

“How could I, once I have learned these things?”

“You ask how you could?

77 “Whole battalions of opponents are coming—not only Epicureans, whom I for my part do not despise, though somehow all the most learned men [despise them]. My own favorite, Dicaearchus, argued most vigorously against this immortality. He wrote three books called the Lesbian Dialogues, because the conversation takes place at Mytilene, in which he seeks to establish that souls are mortal. The Stoics, on the other hand, grant us a lease of life, as they do to crows: they say that souls will last a long time, but deny that they last forever.”

75 “When we turn our thoughts from pleasure, we’re turning them from the body. When we turn from property, we’re turning from the body’s servant and helper. We also set aside public life and every kind of business. What are we doing in all this, I ask? Bringing the soul home to itself, requiring it to keep its own company, and removing it from the body as far as we can. To learn to die means precisely to separate body and soul. Believe me, we should rehearse that separation: we should free ourselves from our bodies, which means getting accustomed to dying. Even here on earth that will give us something like life in heaven. Once these chains are off and we’re carried there, our souls will make the journey with fewer delays. People who have always worn the body’s fetters are slow to walk even after their release, just like prisoners kept in irons for years. Only on arriving there will we really live. Our present life is death; I could lament it, if I wanted.”

“You did plenty of lamenting in your Consolation;

76 “reading it makes me want above all to leave this world behind. What you’ve just told me makes me want that much more.”

“Whether you try to put it off or rush to meet it, your time will come soon enough. Our years race past. You thought earlier that death was bad. Far from that, I almost fear that nothing else is so certainly free of evil, nothing else so truly good for us—provided we shall become gods ourselves or share their company […]”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because some people reject all this. Whatever argument they use, I won’t end our talk leaving you any grounds for thinking death an evil.”

“After what I’ve learned, how could I think that?”

“You want to know how?

77 “There’s a whole army of people arguing against us. It isn’t just the Epicureans—I certainly don’t despise them—but, strangely enough, the most learned people too. My beloved Dicaearchus made the strongest attack on immortality. His three books bear the name Lesbian Dialogues, since their discussion takes place at Mytilene. Their aim is to prove that souls die. The Stoics lend us a span of life, as they do the crows: souls last a long time, they say, but don’t last forever.”