“There has never been a time in the history of the world when a culture has broken so completely with traditional methods of body disposition and beliefs surrounding mortality.” — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Dead people look very, very dead. It is difficult to grasp what that means, since it’s unlikely that any of us will stumble across… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“The most salacious stories—bones ground in a metal blender or torture-spike eye caps—had the power to disrupt people’s polite complacency about death. Rather than… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“We do not (and will not) have the resources to properly care for our increasing elderly population, yet we insist on medical intervention to… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“He explained that he talks about death "all the time" with his friends. They ask each other, "Hey, what you want when you die?"… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Many children and grandchildren of immigrants, have, like Sarah, found themselves severed from their family’s cultural rituals. The funeral system in the United States… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“I have come to believe that the merits of a death custom are not based on mathematics (e.g., 36.7 percent a "barbarous act"), but… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“It was death that the public was being cheated out of by the funeral industry, not money. The realistic interaction with death and the… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Exposing a young child to the realities of love and death is far less dangerous than exposing them to the lie of the happy… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Rather than let author and environmentalist Edward Abbey be buried in a traditional cemetery, his friends stole his body, wrapped it in a sleeping… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“The ICU was not the thrill ride I had expected. Turns out, they never called the high school student in from the reception desk… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Death should be known. Known as a difficult mental, physical, and emotional process, respected and feared for what it is.” — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
“Untreated, a dead person’s face looks horrific, at least by our very narrow cultural expectations. Their droopy, open eyes cloud over in a vacant… — Caitlin Doughty Copy Share Image
