Parkerville

Martin Heidegger is believed by many to be the most influential existentialist philosopher of the 20th century. During a lecture in 1961, in reply to the question of what one should do to live an authentic life (a life based on one's own values rather than following the herd), he said, " we should simply aim to spend more time in graveyards". Simon Critchley clarifies: " if we want to understand what it means to be an authentic human being, then it is essential that we constantly project our lives onto the horizon of our death. This is what Heidegger famously calls "being-towards-death "." Critchley  then backs this up with a quote from Cicero, "to philosophize is to learn how to die". If your  preference is silver throated country singers then there is this from Willie Nelson, " Live every day like it's your last one, one day you're gonna be right " ( from Live Every Day). All are saying that we will spend more time on what