“Not by lamentations and mournful chants ought we to celebrate the funeral of a good man [woman], but by hymns;  for, one ceasing to be numbered with mortals,  enters upon the heritage of a diviner life.

Since they are gone where they feel no pain, let us not indulge in too much grief. The soul is incapable of death. And they, like a bird not long enough in its cage to become attached to it, are free to fly away to a purer air....

Since we cherish a trust like this, let our outward actions be in accord with it, and let us keep our hearts pure and our minds calm.”   -  Plutarch