Old Graves of a Jewish Cemetery photo by Frettie
It has been said that death is the great equalizer. Certainly, it’s the one thing that none of us can avoid, so in that regard, we’re all the same.
In our post about all the skulls and skeletons associated with Day of the Dead, we talked about how this imagery serves as a humorous reminder that life is short. You can fear death, or you can choose to accept and embrace its inevitability. In their celebration of the Day of the Dead, the Mexicans (and many others in Latin America) choose the latter.
La Catrina by Jose Guadalupe Posada
The Mexican printer and political cartoonist, Jose Guadalupe Posada modeled his iconic “Catrina” figure, frequently associated with the Day of the Dead, after a wealthy French woman who lived in Mexico during the reign of Porfirio Diaz. During this time, the poor masses lived a miserable existence, while the aristocrats lorded it over them, living high on the hog and abusing the power and wealth they enjoyed. By drawing Catrina—with her fancy plumed hat—as a skeleton, Posada wanted to communicate the idea that “you may think you’re high and mighty now, but in the end you’ll be dead—just like all the rest of us.”
It’s a popular sentiment—particularly among the downtrodden. There’s no clear consensus as to who first deemed death, “the great equalizer,” but the basic idea has been quoted and rephrased by many since:
Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers shed a tear for one another.
Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
***
Death, the great equalizer, always restores to its possessors the rights of mind.
Susanna Moodie, Life in the Clearing versus the Bush
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The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
Death lays his icy hand on Kings;
Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.
James Shirley, Death the Leveler
***
God made men. Sam Colt made them equal.
Unknown
***
With death comes honesty.
Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
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Six feet of earth make all equal
Unknown
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All share a common destiny-the righteous and the wicked,
the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean,
those who offer sacrifices and those who do not…
For the living know that they will die.
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3, 12-13
***
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour-
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
***
And last but not least, the founder of Apple, the late, great Steve Jobs said the following at the commencement address he gave at Stanford in 2005 (shortly after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer):
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.
And yet death is the destination we all share.
No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be,
because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.
It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.
Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now,
you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.
Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
But lest we work ourselves into a real funk and start wondering what’s the use of anything, let’s not forget that while we all may be equal in death, it’s what we do while we’re living that really matters. This is what we’ll be remembered for. Here again, the words of Steve Jobs (who knew a thing or two about leaving a legacy):
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered
to help me make the big choices in life.
Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride,
all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death,
leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way
I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
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