--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's really no such thing as the agony…" description: "\"There's really no such thing as the agony of dying. I'm quite sure that pain is shut off at the moment of death. You see, something happens when the bo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/lewis-thomas-2299_agony_there-s-really-no-such-thing-as-the-agon_3016851.jpg" --- # There's really no such thing as the agony of dying. I'm… ![“There's really no such thing as the agony of dying. I'm quite sure that pain is shut off at the moment of death. You see, something happens when the body knows it's about to go. Peptide hormones are released by cells in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Endorphins. They attach themselves to…” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/lewis-thomas-2299_agony_there-s-really-no-such-thing-as-the-agon_3016851.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/lewis-thomas-2299_agony_there-s-really-no-such-thing-as-the-agon_3016851.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/lewis-thomas-2299_agony_there-s-really-no-such-thing-as-the-agon_3016851.jpg) > “There's really no such thing as the agony of dying. I'm quite sure that pain is shut off at the moment of death. You see, something happens when the body knows it's about to go. Peptide hormones are released by cells in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Endorphins. They attach themselves to the cells responsible for feeling pain.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. At death, the body releases endorphins that block pain, suggesting a natural, painless transition rather than lingering agony. **In simple terms:** Death may be painless. Key Takeaway Trust the process. Themes biology death pain management Mood calm informative Type scientific reflective When to use this quote - palliative care - end‑of‑life planning - spiritual reflection Key Concepts neurochemistry physiology philosophy of death Questions to Reflect On - How does this knowledge affect your view of mortality? - What can we do to ease fear of death? A Different Perspective Individual experiences of dying vary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agony/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Endorphins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endorphins/) [Feeling pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-pain/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Hypothalamus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypothalamus/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [When you’re in love, your brain secretes endorphins into your blood. Organic morphine leaks out of a gland in your skull, feels like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-clevenger/when-you-re-in-love-your-brain-secretes-endorphins-into-your-blood/) [Craig Clevenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-clevenger/) > [Near the hypothalamus, are pressure points of that, when electrodes are implemented, can cause extreme sexual pleasure. Subjects (especially females) have reported sexual arousal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-luckett/near-the-hypothalamus-are-pressure-points-of-that-when-electrodes-are/) [Johnny Luckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-luckett/) > [If all pleasure is relief from tension, junk affords relief from the whole life process, in disconnecting the hypothalamus, which is the center of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/if-all-pleasure-is-relief-from-tension-junk-affords-relief-from-the/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Greetings, conversationalists across the fruited plain, this is Rush Limbaugh, the most dangerous man in America, with the largest hypothalamus in North America, serving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/greetings-conversationalists-across-the-fruited-plain-this-is-rush/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“What science offers for explaining the feelings we experience when believing in God or falling in love is complementary, not conflicting; additive, not detractive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-science-offers-for-explaining-the-feelings-we-experience-when/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The hypothalamus is one of the most important parts of the brain, involved in many kinds of motivation, among other functions. The hypothalamus controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-dunnette/the-hypothalamus-is-one-of-the-most-important-parts-of-the-brain/) Marvin Dunnette > [I'm alone. And I'm crying. And no one is coming to the crib. And the nightlight has burned out. And I'm mad. I'm so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/i-m-alone-and-i-m-crying-and-no-one-is-coming-to-the-crib-and-the/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The hunger drive is truly a mind-body connection. Eating is so important that the nerve cells of appetite are located in the hypothalamus region…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-tribole/the-hunger-drive-is-truly-a-mind-body-connection-eating-is-so/) [Evelyn Tribole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-tribole/) > [“the tiny part of the hypothalamus that seemed correlated with aggressive behavior was intertwined with the part associated with the impulse to mate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-tiny-part-of-the-hypothalamus-that-seemed-correlated-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In Ixion music and party are our only beliefs. Darkness is our comfort. We have few rules but they are absolute. Your endocrine systems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-de-pierres/in-ixion-music-and-party-are-our-only-beliefs-darkness-is-our-comfort/) [Marianne de Pierres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-de-pierres/) > [I learned a lot more about transgender people. It's not a choice, but a physiological condition that has to do with the size of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-ruehl/i-learned-a-lot-more-about-transgender-people-it-s-not-a-choice-but-a/) [Mercedes Ruehl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-ruehl/) > [“It is noteworthy, however, that this areas also contains neurons which when stimulated can trigger female sexual posturing (Benson, 1988; Rose, 1990); i.e. the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-noteworthy-however-that-this-areas-also-contains-neurons-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When your eyes are softly focused on the horizon for sustained periods, your brain releases endorphins. It's the same as a runner's high. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/when-your-eyes-are-softly-focused-on-the-horizon-for-sustained/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [I was raised really, really healthy, pretty much vegetarian and a very clean lifestyle, I don't smoke, I don't drink. I'm more addicted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berkley/i-was-raised-really-really-healthy-pretty-much-vegetarian-and-a-very/) [Elizabeth Berkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berkley/) > [Road cycling, especially up mountains. It's the heady mixture of endorphins and aesthetics that I love. My wife does it too, and being with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kemp/road-cycling-especially-up-mountains-it-s-the-heady-mixture-of/) [Gary Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kemp/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Agony quotes > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [“aaron would not come out aaron entered into agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/aaron-would-not-come-out-aaron-entered-into-agony/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [As we look upon that agony and those tearful prayers, let us not only look with thankfulness; but let that kneeling Saviour teach us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/as-we-look-upon-that-agony-and-those-tearful-prayers-let-us-not-only/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [Love masters agony; the soul that seemed Forsaken feels her present God again And in her Father's arms Contented dies away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keble/love-masters-agony-the-soul-that-seemed-forsaken-feels-her-present/) [John Keble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keble/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/i-have-seen-war-i-have-seen-war-on-land-and-sea-i-have-seen-blood/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [“Anger was a reliable defense, but one that allowed no chance of final victory. Anger was a medicine but never a cure, briefly numbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/anger-was-a-reliable-defense-but-one-that-allowed-no-chance-of-final/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-cure-is-in-the-house-not-brought-by-other-hands-from-distant/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The young man shivered. 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