Table-Talk · Chapter
On the Fear of Death explained
Hazlitt explores the human fear of death, contrasting the heroic, passionate embrace of death in earlier eras with the modern, civilized clinging to life.
What happens
Hazlitt explores the human fear of death, contrasting the heroic, passionate embrace of death in earlier eras with the modern, civilized clinging to life. He argues that a life of action mitigates the fear, while sedentary, studious men like Dr. Johnson are most apprehensive. He reflects on the imagination's role in making death ghastly, the vanity of thinking we leave a great void, and how posterity remembers only those who conferred benefit.
Themes in this chapter
The Psychology of Habit and Novelty
Hazlitt contrasts the modern, habitual clinging to life with the heroic, passionate embrace of death in earlier times, exploring how habit and novelty shape our fear of death.
Fame, Reputation, and Public Opinion
Hazlitt discusses how quickly the rich and powerful are forgotten after death, and how posterity only remembers those who conferred benefit.
Intellectual Superiority and Its Disadvantages
Hazlitt notes that sedentary, studious men like Dr. Johnson are more fearful of death, implying that intellectual life can amplify existential dread.
Characters to notice
- William Hazlitt
The author reflects on his own fear of death, his bookish existence, and his memory of seeing an infant's death.
- Samuel Johnson
Cited as an example of a sedentary, studious man who was especially apprehensive about death.
- Romeo
Referenced as a literary example of a hero who embraces death for love.
- Juliet
Referenced as a literary example of a heroine who follows her lover to death.
Key passages
“The most rational cure after all for the inordinate fear of death is to set a just value on life.”
The best way to overcome an excessive fear of death is to properly appreciate the true worth of life.
Hazlitt argues that a realistic assessment of life's value reduces the terror of losing it.
“It is not wonderful that the contemplation and fear of death become more familiar to us as we approach nearer to it: that life seems to ebb with the decay of blood and youthful spirits; and that as we find everything about us subject to chance and change, as our strength and beauty die, as our hopes and passions, our friends and our affections leave us, we begin by degrees to feel ourselves mortal!”
It is natural that as we age and lose our vitality, loved ones, and passions, we become increasingly aware of our own mortality.
Hazlitt describes the gradual process by which aging and loss make death feel more imminent and familiar.
“We do not leave so great a void in society as we are inclined to imagine, partly to magnify our own importance, and partly to console ourselves by sympathy.”
We overestimate how much we will be missed after death, both to boost our own ego and to comfort ourselves with the thought of others' grief.
Hazlitt critiques the self-importance that leads us to believe our absence will be deeply felt.