He had no conscious knowledge of death, but like every animal of the Wild, he possessed the instinct of death. To him it stood as the greatest of hurts. It was the very essence of the unknown; it was the sum of the terrors of the unknown, the one culminating and unthinkable catastrophe that could happen to him, about which he knew nothing and about which he feared everything. Jack London
About This Quote

In the novel The Wild by Jack London, a young wolf is killed by a hunter. After his death, the wolf's spirit travels to the afterlife and meets a dog spirit who is also seeking revenge for a wrong done to him. In this quote, London captures the essence of Death as a very real force that can shake our world to its core. We fear Death so deeply because we have no idea what it is or what it can do. Though we can't know what it will be like, we know the pain of losing someone we love and how their absence makes everyday tasks more difficult.

Source: White Fang

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