--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An epitaph is a belated advertisement for…" description: "\"An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that have been permanently discontinued.\" — Irvin S. Cobb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/irvin-s-cobb-22162_advertisements_an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-fo_2427154.png" --- # An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods… ![“An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that have been permanently discontinued.” quote by Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/irvin-s-cobb-22162_advertisements_an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-fo_2427154.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/irvin-s-cobb-22162_advertisements_an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-fo_2427154.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/irvin-s-cobb-22162_advertisements_an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-fo_2427154.png) > “An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that have been permanently discontinued.” [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Obituaries act like late advertisements for lives that have ended, highlighting their finality. **In simple terms:** Obituaries are like ads for the dead. Key Takeaway Remember the fleeting nature of fame. Themes mortality humor legacy Mood wry thoughtful Type satirical observational When to use this quote - media - publishing - funeral services - historical research Key Concepts satire social commentary Questions to Reflect On - What does this say about how we value people after death? - Does humor help us cope with loss? A Different Perspective May overlook the personal grief behind the humor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belated/) [Epitaph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epitaph/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Humour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humour/) [Sarcasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sarcasm/) [Sarcastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sarcastic/) ## Related quotes > [An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that has been discontinued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-for-a-line-of-goods-that-has/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [He is so old that his blood type was discontinued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-is-so-old-that-his-blood-type-was-discontinued/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It was a very limited practice; carefully safeguarded. In 1890, that practice was discontinued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/it-was-a-very-limited-practice-carefully-safeguarded-in-1890-that/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [What is painting today? It's a discontinued thing, discontinued from anything serious that happened in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/what-is-painting-today-it-s-a-discontinued-thing-discontinued-from/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > ['I am a camera' but it is a discontinued model.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-am-a-camera-but-it-is-a-discontinued-model/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [You know you're old if they have discontinued your blood type.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-diller/you-know-you-re-old-if-they-have-discontinued-your-blood-type/) [Phyllis Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-diller/) > [In the weeks that followed, we amazed ourselves. Our habits slid apart easily...And our very few intimacies were simply discontinued. Where did they go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/in-the-weeks-that-followed-we-amazed-ourselves-our-habits-slid-apart/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [When I was a kid, I was really into the shows my older brothers were into. I got all the action figures handed down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-mooney/when-i-was-a-kid-i-was-really-into-the-shows-my-older-brothers-were/) [Kyle Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-mooney/) > [We possess the Canon because we are mortal and also rather belated. There is only so much time, and time must have a stop,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/we-possess-the-canon-because-we-are-mortal-and-also-rather-belated/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [I had so often sung 'Deutschland u:ber Alles' and shouted 'Heil' at the top of my lungs, that it seemed to me almost a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-had-so-often-sung-deutschland-u-ber-alles-and-shouted-heil-at-the/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [While this debate today is a belated effort to inform the American people, it is nevertheless an empty gesture. It is time to admit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raul-grijalva/while-this-debate-today-is-a-belated-effort-to-inform-the-american/) [Raul Grijalva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raul-grijalva/) > [At any rate, that’s how I started running. Thirty three—that’s how old I was then. Still young enough, though no longer a young man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/at-any-rate-that-s-how-i-started-running-thirty-three-that-s-how-old/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I feel prematurely old. I'm actually having this major belated quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/i-feel-prematurely-old-i-m-actually-having-this-major-belated-quarter/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [What basic psychological distortion can be found in every civilization of which we know anything? The only psychological force capable of producing these perversions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-chisholm/what-basic-psychological-distortion-can-be-found-in-every/) [Brock Chisholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-chisholm/) > [Suicide is belated acquiescence in the opinion of one's wife's relatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/suicide-is-belated-acquiescence-in-the-opinion-of-one-s-wife-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Irvin S. Cobb > [“Daylight would have shown a wilderness weathered and blowzy, a wanton that had lived her summer too fast and too greedily. It would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/daylight-would-have-shown-a-wilderness-weathered-and-blowzy-a-wanton/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Reelfoot is, and has always been, a lake of mystery.In places it is bottomless. Other places the skeletons of the cypress-trees that went down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/reelfoot-is-and-has-always-been-a-lake-of-mystery-in-places-it-is/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [If writers were good businessmen, they'd have too much sense to be writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/if-writers-were-good-businessmen-they-d-have-too-much-sense-to-be/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [You had to hate the Colonel a whole lot to keep from loving him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/you-had-to-hate-the-colonel-a-whole-lot-to-keep-from-loving-him/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [A funeral eulogy is a belated plea for the defense delivered after the evidence is all in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/a-funeral-eulogy-is-a-belated-plea-for-the-defense-delivered-after/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/i-ve-just-learned-about-his-illness-let-s-hope-it-s-nothing-trivial/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that has been discontinued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/an-epitaph-is-a-belated-advertisement-for-a-line-of-goods-that-has/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [If a woman likes another woman, she's cordial. If she doesn't like her, she's very cordial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/if-a-woman-likes-another-woman-she-s-cordial-if-she-doesn-t-like-her/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [“By now the moon was well down. Over the tree tops they had seen her cruise across the heavens to strike on a reef…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/by-now-the-moon-was-well-down-over-the-tree-tops-they-had-seen-her/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [A good storyteller is a person with a good memory and hopes other people haven't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/a-good-storyteller-is-a-person-with-a-good-memory-and-hopes-other/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Of all American cities of whatever size the most friendly on preliminary inspection, and on further acquaintance the most likable. The happiest-hearted, the gayest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/of-all-american-cities-of-whatever-size-the-most-friendly-on/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Humor is merely tragedy standing on its head with its pants torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/humor-is-merely-tragedy-standing-on-its-head-with-its-pants-torn/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Men are vain; but they won't mind women working so long as they get smaller wages for the same job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/men-are-vain-but-they-won-t-mind-women-working-so-long-as-they-get/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [Golf - a young man's vice and an old man's penance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/golf-a-young-man-s-vice-and-an-old-man-s-penance/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) > [“He also could feel it in his nostrils like an impalpable soot; the emanations of the millions about them, packed away at night in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-s-cobb/he-also-could-feel-it-in-his-nostrils-like-an-impalpable-soot-the/) [Irvin S. Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) [Explore all 28 Irvin S. Cobb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-s-cobb/) ## More Advertisements quotes > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [In advertisements for your favorite products, are women denigrated or objectified in some way? All of that is important. I would rewrite my kids'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geena-davis/in-advertisements-for-your-favorite-products-are-women-denigrated-or/) [Geena Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geena-davis/) > [ There's a fantastic, thousand-page book by David Thomson about \[David O. Selznick\]. Again, it's not the best argument or the best advertisement for his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-longworth/there-s-a-fantastic-thousand-page-book-by-david-thomson-about-david-o/) [Karina Longworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-longworth/) > [Google has - at least at this point - maintained the line where it keeps organic results separate from the advertisements. But over time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-has-at-least-at-this-point-maintained-the-line-where-it-keeps/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [Freedom! To fill people's mailboxes, eyes, ears and brains with commercial rubbish against their will, television programs that are impossible to watch with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freedom-to-fill-people-s-mailboxes-eyes-ears-and-brains-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if you can create a meaningful thing that is also an advertisement that's a pretty cool option for brands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-walters/i-think-if-you-can-create-a-meaningful-thing-that-is-also-an/) [Doug Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-walters/) > [I believe in advertisement and media completely. My art and my personal life are based in it. I think that the art world would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/i-believe-in-advertisement-and-media-completely-my-art-and-my/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [To measure your needs by that which is projected via mass media is a mistake that has no mercy. The average person views a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haki-r-madhubuti/to-measure-your-needs-by-that-which-is-projected-via-mass-media-is-a/) [Haki R. 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We're living in the disturbed societies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/today-our-attention-is-less-than-the-television-advertisement-we-re/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) Browse all 239 Advertisements quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that have been permanently discontinued.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irvin S. 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