Quotes About End-of-life

A few terminally ill persons I have known have quietly ascended their favorite mountain late in the day and made sure that they were above the freezing line for that particular time of the year. They used public transport to get there so that a parked car would not be spotted. Then, wearing light clothing, they sat down in a secluded spot to await the end.

Remember, there are two ways to starve oneself to death: without food and fluids, which is the quicker way but more painful; and with fluids only, which is slower but less painful. In both methods, painkilling drugs and skilled nursing are desirable.

Hospice means end-of-life care. The admission ticket is a diagnosis from a doctor that you have six months or less to live.

When pain or illness consumes her with little hope of recovery; when your cat knows her fight is done; when prolonging her life offers no hope for enjoying that life; these are determinations only you, as your cat's best friend, can make. People who are closely bonded to their special cats just know when the time is right. Listen to your heart, and your cat will tell you when she's ready to say goodbye.

If I had terminal cancer, I had a few weeks to live, I was in tremendous amount of pain - if they just effectively wanted to turn off the switch and legalise that by legalising euthanasia, I'd want that.

I think we're rapidly approaching the day where medical science can keep people alive in hospitals, hooked up to tubes and things, far beyond when any kind of quality of life is left at all.

Under Medicare right now, I get paid to put a pacemaker in you, but I don't get paid to counsel you about end-of-life care.

I would not want to live with a tube in my neck and not be able to move a finger. I wouldn't - that to me is not life.

I think those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their own life, and those that help them should be free from prosecution.

Life to me is just so precious. I fail to see the wrong in keeping someone alive who's still got quality of life even if it's only for a few months.

Euthanasia ... is simply to be able to die with dignity at a moment when life is devoid of it.

We need to be reminded that there is nothing morbid about honestly confronting the fact of life's end, and preparing for it so that we may go gracefully and peacefully.

memorandum to the State Department dated October 26, 1933. Seriously ill patients could ask to be euthanized, but if unable to make the request, their families could do so for them.

Can't you let a man die as comfortably as he can without calling him names?

When you got old there was the worry of indignity and dying.

I've always said when age or infirmity gets the better of me, I'm off to whichever civilised country lets the elderly die with dignity.

Patients who are being kept alive by technology and want to end their lives already have a recognized constitutional right to stop any and all medical interventions, from respirators to antibiotics. They do not need physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.

I sostenitori dell'eutanasia non sanno cosa sia la dignità umana e, nella migliore delle ipotesi, la confondono con la compassione.

I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.

It is the nurse who holds the hand of a patient without a family, who talks to them while they take their last breaths, who aches for them while they die alone. It is the nurse who cleans the patient's body, wipes away the blood and fluids, and closes his eyes. It is the nurse who says good-bye to the patient for the last time," she said.

I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.

The final disease that nature inflicts on us will determine the atmosphere in which we take our leave of life, but our own choices should be allowed, insofar as possible, to be the decisive factor in the manner of our going.

In medical school, students are immersed in the realm of medical ethics. It's where new doctors study, learn right and wrong, ask tough questions, and discuss things like end of life care, genetic testing, and patients' rights. In lots of ways, it's the most important part of being a compassionate and competent doctor.

The last of Zahhara's patients died that night. In the end it happened very quickly. About half of them had been human, the others different alien species, but it didn't make a difference. In the last moments some of the nonhumans had reverted to their native languages, some had clutched her hand and talked to her passionately- if brokenly, through uncontrollable coughing-as if she were some family member or loved one, and she'd listened and nodded even if she didn't understand a word of it.