--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am preparing myself for death. When I…" description: "\"I am preparing myself for death. When I go to sleep, I try to keep myself smiling. So that when I die, I have a smile on my lips. I want an electric cr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/zohra-sehgal-72087_ashes_i-am-preparing-myself-for-death-when-i-g_155093.jpg" --- # I am preparing myself for death. When I go to sleep, I try… ![“I am preparing myself for death. When I go to sleep, I try to keep myself smiling. So that when I die, I have a smile on my lips. I want an electric cremation. I don't want any poems or fuss after that. And for heaven's sake, don't bring back my ashes. Flush them down the toilet if the crematorium…” quote by Zohra Sehgal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/zohra-sehgal-72087_ashes_i-am-preparing-myself-for-death-when-i-g_155093.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/zohra-sehgal-72087_ashes_i-am-preparing-myself-for-death-when-i-g_155093.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/zohra-sehgal-72087_ashes_i-am-preparing-myself-for-death-when-i-g_155093.jpg) > “I am preparing myself for death. When I go to sleep, I try to keep myself smiling. So that when I die, I have a smile on my lips. I want an electric cremation. I don't want any poems or fuss after that. And for heaven's sake, don't bring back my ashes. Flush them down the toilet if the crematorium refuses to keep them. If they tell you that I am dead, I want you to give a big laugh.” Zohra Sehgal ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator prepares for death by smiling, desiring a simple, unconventional cremation and a humorous acknowledgment of their passing. **In simple terms:** He wants to die smiling and be remembered with humor. Key Takeaway Embrace mortality with personal wishes. Themes death humor legacy Mood reflective lighthearted Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - funeral planning - end‑of‑life conversations - personal legacy Key Concepts mortality personal rituals Questions to Reflect On - What would you want your death to look like? - How can humor help cope with mortality? A Different Perspective Societal norms may clash with personal wishes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) [Cremation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cremation/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Going to sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-to-sleep/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) ## Related quotes > [“I love you, Esmeralda,” he said. “I love you, too,” she whispered back, and he couldn’t help smiling. At least he would die with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jl-bryanyan/i-love-you-esmeralda-he-said-i-love-you-too-she-whispered-back-and-he/) JL Bryanyan > [It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/it-is-good-to-have-a-reminder-of-death-before-us-for-it-helps-us-to/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [“The aim of all life is death. Life is the apprenticeship that we serve preparing for death. Life is the fleeting spark of divinity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-aim-of-all-life-is-death-life-is-the-apprenticeship-that-we-serve/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [I spend my days preparing for life, not preparing for death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mumia-abu-jamal/i-spend-my-days-preparing-for-life-not-preparing-for-death/) [Mumia Abu-Jamal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mumia-abu-jamal/) > [The business of the Christian is nothing else but to be ever preparing for death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-business-of-the-christian-is-nothing-else-but-to-be-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Instead of joyfully looking forward to my birth, my mother began systematically preparing for her own death. She was fatalistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorna-luft/instead-of-joyfully-looking-forward-to-my-birth-my-mother-began/) [Lorna Luft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorna-luft/) > [Preparing for death is one of the most empowering things you can do. Thinking about death clarifies your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/preparing-for-death-is-one-of-the-most-empowering-things-you-can-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Are people crazy? People waited all their lives. They waited to live, they waited to die. They waited in line to buy toilet paper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/are-people-crazy-people-waited-all-their-lives-they-waited-to-live/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [When you are sad or in pain or sick or you witness any cremation then you actually learn the many truths of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neem-karoli-baba/when-you-are-sad-or-in-pain-or-sick-or-you-witness-any-cremation-then/) [Neem Karoli Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neem-karoli-baba/) > [purification in fire. public cremation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/purification-in-fire-public-cremation/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [One of the great advantages of cremation - apart from all sanitary conditions - lies in the swift restoration to Mother Nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/one-of-the-great-advantages-of-cremation-apart-from-all-sanitary/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [More than a hygienic method of disposing of the dead, cremation enabled lovers and comrades to be mingled together for eternity:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-arnold/more-than-a-hygienic-method-of-disposing-of-the-dead-cremation/) [Catharine Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-arnold/) > [“A sematary," I say. "A what?" Viola says, looking round at all the square stones marking out their graves. Must be a hundred, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/a-sematary-i-say-a-what-viola-says-looking-round-at-all-the-square/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [“Most people are not really scared of death. They are merely terrified of being taken to a mortuary and/or being buried or cremated and/or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-people-are-not-really-scared-of-death-they-are-merely-terrified/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“More than a hygenic method of disposing of the dead, cremation enabled lovers and comrades to be mingled together for eternity: The ashes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-arnold/more-than-a-hygenic-method-of-disposing-of-the-dead-cremation-enabled/) [Catharine Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-arnold/) ## More by Zohra Sehgal > [You are seeing me now, when I am old and ugly; you should have seen me then, when I was young and ugly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zohra-sehgal/you-are-seeing-me-now-when-i-am-old-and-ugly-you-should-have-seen-me/) Zohra Sehgal > [“Life’s been tough but I’ve been tougher. I beat life at its own game. You see me now when I am old and ugly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zohra-sehgal/life-s-been-tough-but-i-ve-been-tougher-i-beat-life-at-its-own-game/) Zohra Sehgal > [Life, this endless conversation with yourself. Silent in sanity, audible in madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zohra-sehgal/life-this-endless-conversation-with-yourself-silent-in-sanity-audible/) Zohra Sehgal Explore all 4 Zohra Sehgal quotes ## More Ashes quotes > [You can flush my ashes down the toilet, for all I care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-flush-my-ashes-down-the-toilet-for-all-i-care/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't want to have a gravestone. I want to have all my friends burn me and then snort the ashes. I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-don-t-want-to-have-a-gravestone-i-want-to-have-all-my-friends-burn/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [He said that he will never let you cry,he will always be there for you no matter how hard the situation is,that he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhra/he-said-that-he-will-never-let-you-cry-he-will-always-be-there-for/) Zhra > [“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-past-is-to-be-learned-from-but-not-lived-in-we-look-back-to-claim/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. 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Let us be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/bury-us-and-mark-our-names-above-let-us-be-free/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anderson/there-is-nothing-quite-like-an-ashes-trip-down-under/) [James Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anderson/) > [I think momentum is huge in sport, especially in a series like the Ashes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stokes/i-think-momentum-is-huge-in-sport-especially-in-a-series-like-the/) [Ben Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stokes/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“When you burn a bridge, you have to be prepared to live with some ashes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coppernoll/when-you-burn-a-bridge-you-have-to-be-prepared-to-live-with-some-ashes/) [Chris Coppernoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coppernoll/) > [I would rather be ashes than dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 900 Ashes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am preparing myself for death. When I go to sleep, I try to keep myself smiling. So that when I die, I have a smile on my lips. 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