quoth the raven

humans may be the only creatures on earth who spend significant time thinking about the fact that someday their lives will end. that's probably why we all fantasize at some point about what it would be like to live forever. no one knows what waits us after we die: is there an afterlife - an so, are we going to like it? or is this lifetime truly all there is? we comfort ourselves with religion, if we can; but we all know in our hearts that no living being really knows the answer to the ultimate question. we all long to be safe and secure.

joan d. vinge ([2001] 1980), reading group guide: a conversation with joan d. vinge, the snow queen, warner books, p.416