--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A good funeral gets the dead where they…" description: "\"A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.\" — Thomas Lynch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png" --- # A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the… ![“A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.” quote by Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png) > “A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.” [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A funeral should guide the deceased to peace and the living toward healing. **In simple terms:** Funerals help both dead and living. Key Takeaway Honor loss, support survivors. Themes grief ritual healing Mood somber hopeful Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - funeral planning - counseling - memorial services Key Concepts thanology community support Questions to Reflect On - How can funerals aid personal growth? - What rituals best support the living? A Different Perspective Cultural differences affect expectations of funerals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Funeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funeral/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [People ask me what makes a good funeral, and I tell them the most important thing is your man in the casket. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/people-ask-me-what-makes-a-good-funeral-and-i-tell-them-the-most/) [Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/) > [“He wonders again if the dead need translators; perhaps in a moment, in a simple twist of unbecoming, they know everything they need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/he-wonders-again-if-the-dead-need-translators-perhaps-in-a-moment-in/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Pull yourself together. People among the living still need your help, and I haven't given you permission to quit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/pull-yourself-together-people-among-the-living-still-need-your-help/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [To live with the terrible truths about ourselves is the only way of not living them out. A need denied has infinitely more power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-coudert/to-live-with-the-terrible-truths-about-ourselves-is-the-only-way-of/) [Jo Coudert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-coudert/) > [“Even the dead need caring for”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-p-jones/even-the-dead-need-caring-for/) Gareth P. Jones > [“We have no need for genius - genius is dead. We have need for strong hands, for spirits who are willing to give up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/we-have-no-need-for-genius-genius-is-dead-we-have-need-for-strong/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“The dead do not need aspirin or sorrow, I suppose. but they might need rain. not shoes but a place to walk. not cigarettes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/the-dead-do-not-need-aspirin-or-sorrow-i-suppose-but-they-might-need/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [We spend too much time living in the what if and need to learn to live in the what is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-spend-too-much-time-living-in-the-what-if-and-need-to-learn-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The living need charity more than the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-arnold/the-living-need-charity-more-than-the-dead/) [George Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-arnold/) > [The dead have need of fairy tales too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-herbert/the-dead-have-need-of-fairy-tales-too/) [Zbigniew Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-herbert/) > [“You dead, or I need to hit you again? You know what, fuck it. I’m just going to hit you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seanan-mcguire/you-dead-or-i-need-to-hit-you-again-you-know-what-fuck-it-i-m-just/) [Seanan McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seanan-mcguire/) > [I think the church needs – I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/i-think-the-church-needs-i-think-this-is-the-world-we-are-living-in/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [“Don't you cry for the lost Smile for the living Get what you need and give what you'r given Life's for the living so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/passenger/don-t-you-cry-for-the-lost-smile-for-the-living-get-what-you-need-and/) [Passenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/passenger/) > [My girlfriend and I went to a dinner party the other night and we ended up playing charades. There was another couple there that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-galifianakis/my-girlfriend-and-i-went-to-a-dinner-party-the-other-night-and-we/) [Zach Galifianakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-galifianakis/) > [(Japanese Government believes that if you have a big laboratory with all the latest equipment and good funding it will automatically lead to creativity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/japanese-government-believes-that-if-you-have-a-big-laboratory-with/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) ## More by Thomas Lynch > [“I had this theory. It was based loosely on the unremarkable observation that the old are always looking back with longing while the young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-had-this-theory-it-was-based-loosely-on-the-unremarkable/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The advance of our technology is coincidental with the loss of our appetite for ethical questions that ought to attend the implications of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-advance-of-our-technology-is-coincidental-with-the-loss-of-our/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever’s there to feel, feel it – the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The bodies of the newly dead are not debris nor remnant, nor are they entirely icon or essence. They are, rather, changelings, incubates, hatchlings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-bodies-of-the-newly-dead-are-not-debris-nor-remnant-nor-are-they/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The living have to live with it. You don’t. Theirs is the grief or the gladness of your death, theirs is the loss or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-living-have-to-live-with-it-you-don-t-theirs-is-the-grief-or-the/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-past-the-past-we-imagine/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever's there to feel, feel it—the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your own mortality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright-2/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [... by doing you shall know What it is you have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/by-doing-you-shall-know-what-it-is-you-have-to-do/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Usually a poem takes shape accoustically - a line or a pair of lines will repeat itself in my ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/usually-a-poem-takes-shape-accoustically-a-line-or-a-pair-of-lines/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [If I were assigned poems I suppose I'd write more of them but it is entirely voluntary and for the most part ignored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/if-i-were-assigned-poems-i-suppose-i-d-write-more-of-them-but-it-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“There are those, too, who are ethnically predisposed in favor of funerals, who recognize among the black drapes and dirges an emotionally potent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-are-those-too-who-are-ethnically-predisposed-in-favor-of/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [I'm lazy but generally task oriented so having a hoop to jump through means eventually I'll make the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-lazy-but-generally-task-oriented-so-having-a-hoop-to-jump-through/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [There's no easy way to do this. So do it right: weep, laugh, watch, pray, love, live, give thanks and praise; comfort, mend, honor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-s-no-easy-way-to-do-this-so-do-it-right-weep-laugh-watch-pray/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Grief is the price we pay for being close to one another. If we want to avoid our grief, we simply avoid each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-being-close-to-one-another-if-we-want/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“I will, I do, Amen, Here Here, Let's eat, drink and be merry. Marriage is the public spectacle of private parts: cheque-books and genitals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-will-i-do-amen-here-here-let-s-eat-drink-and-be-merry-marriage-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) [Explore all 35 Thomas Lynch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## More Dead quotes > [I'm going to stay on stage until I drop dead. Then I'm going to have myself stuffed, like Trigger, and I'm going to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-m-going-to-stay-on-stage-until-i-drop-dead-then-i-m-going-to-have/) [Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/) > [I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-can-t-be-a-legend-yet-i-m-not-dead/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“I’m just–” She wanted to say “not in the mood,” but that was not only a cliché but a vast understatement. She was dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-mcintosh/i-m-just-she-wanted-to-say-not-in-the-mood-but-that-was-not-only-a/) [Will McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-mcintosh/) > [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [He was obviously dead. But since he was a vampire that wasn't as hopless a thing as it might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/he-was-obviously-dead-but-since-he-was-a-vampire-that-wasn-t-as/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Ireland starts for me with the end of 'The Dead,' which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/ireland-starts-for-me-with-the-end-of-the-dead-which-my-father-read/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) > [“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ – Ben Franklin,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/three-may-keep-a-secret-if-two-of-them-are-dead-ben-franklin/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I intend to do the Penn & Teller show until they pry my cheesy magic wand from my cold dead fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-intend-to-do-the-penn-teller-show-until-they-pry-my-cheesy-magic/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > ['Misery' left a lasting mark on me. When I die, it will be 'Kathy 'Misery' Bates Is Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bates/misery-left-a-lasting-mark-on-me-when-i-die-it-will-be-kathy-misery/) [Kathy Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bates/) > [The only good Indian is a dead Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/the-only-good-indian-is-a-dead-indian/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) Browse all 3,376 Dead quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Lynch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they-need-to-go-and-the-living/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dead" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they-need-to-go-and-the-living/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/thomas-lynch-18339_dead_a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they_1921590.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.” — Thomas Lynch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Lynch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A good funeral gets the dead...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they-need-to-go-and-the-living/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/a-good-funeral-gets-the-dead-where-they-need-to-go-and-the-living/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```