quote · Legacy record
Dying in one’s fourth decade is unusual now, but dying is not. “The thing about lung cancer is that it’s not exotic,” Paul wrote in an email to his best friend, Robin. “The reader can get into these shoes, walk a bit, and say, ‘So that’s what it looks like from here. Sooner or later, I’ll be back here in my own shoes.’ That’s what I’m aiming for, I think. Not the sensationalism of dying and not the exhortations to gather rosebuds but: Here’s what lies up ahead on the road.” Of course, he did more than just describe the terrain. He traversed it bravely.
Dying in one’s fourth decade is unusual now, but dying is not. “The thing about lung cancer is that it’s not exotic,” Paul wrote in an email to his best friend, Robin. “The reader can get into these shoes, walk a bit, and say, ‘So that’s what it looks like from here. Sooner or later, I’ll be back here in my own shoes.’ That’s what I’m aiming for, I think. Not the sensationalism of dying and not the exhortations to gather rosebuds but: Here’s what lies up ahead on the road.” Of course, he did more than just describe the terrain. He traversed it bravely.
Approximate author period: c. 1996 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Paul Kalanithi
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1996 AD · modern
Approximate period for the recorded attribution to Paul Kalanithi, based on documented lifetime 1977 to 2015. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22087287 (checked 2026-10-08). This is not a quotation composition date or independent authentication of its attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22087287 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 307113; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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