All others have a dependent being, and within the reach of destruction, but the sufficiency of Christian Immortality frustrates all earthly glory, and the quality of either state after death, makes a folly of posthumous memory." Before passing on to this escape from oblivion and a discussion of it, Browne comments both on man's fear of death and on the latter's inevitability:
In vain we hope to be known by open and visible conservatories, when to be unknown was the means of their continuation and obscurity their protection: If they dyed by violent hands, and were thrust into their Urnes, these bones become considerable, and some old Philosophers would honor them, whose souls they conceived most pure, which were thus snatched from their bodies; and to retain a stranger propension unto them: whereas they weariedly left a languishing corps, and with faint desires of reunion. If they fell by long and aged decay, yet wrapt up in the bundle of time, they fall into indistinction, and make but one blot with Infants. If we begin to die when we live, and long life be but a prolongation of death; our life is a sad composition; We live with death, and die not in a moment . . . Our dayes become considerable, like petty sums by minute accumulations; where numerous fractions make up but small round numbers; and our dayes of a span long make not one little finger.
If the nearnesse of our last necessity, brought a nearer conformity into it, there were a happinesse in hoary hairs, and no calamity in half senses. But the long habit of living indisposeth us for dying; . . .

In this passage from "Hydriotaphia, Urn-Burial," Sir Thomas Browne explores the complex relationship between life and death. He reflects on the human tendency to cling to life, observing how the "long habit of living" makes us ill-prepared for the inevitability of death. Browne suggests that earthly pursuits and fame are ultimately futile, as they vanish with time. He argues that even those who die violently and become subjects of philosophical honor eventually fade into obscurity, like all of us. Browne's meditation on mortality underscores the transient nature of human existence. He challenges the reader to seek solace not in earthly achievements, but in spiritual immortality. This reflection encourages a perspective that sees life as a preparation for death, urging a focus on enduring values rather than ephemeral glories.