A Little Gem From The “Afterlives”

I don’t think I’ll ever stop singing the praises of David Eagleman’s superb collection of short-stories, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.” I remember when I bought it, I was wandering the aisles and stacks of books at Virgin and it stood out with its smart cover and catchy reviews. When I started reading the jacket and flipping through the pages, there was no way I’d walk out without a copy of it in my hand. It merges philosophy of religion with science, romance and existentialism, in forty wonderful imaginings of what may await us when our time on this earth expires. The stories are a mixture of hope, love and death that cuts through human nature at innovative angles.

It’s very hard for me to pick a favorite tale. There’s something to love and think about in every single one of them. And I’ll definitely be reading this collection again some time soon. But I’ll leave you with a selection of my favorite quotes from the book:

All creation necessarily ends in this: Creators, powerless, fleeing from the things they have wrought.

– David Eagleman, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives”

It is only through us that God lives. When we abandon him, he dies.

– David Eagleman, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives”

Among all the creatures of creation, the gods favor us: We are the only ones who can empathize with their problems.

– David Eagleman, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives”

There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the graved. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.

– David Eagleman, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives”