Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent [Death and Rincewind] (1999)

Dave — Sun, 09 Jul 2023 18:03:48 +0000

“Is it true that your life passes before your eyes before you die?”
Yes.
“Ghastly thought, really.” Rincewind shuddered. “Oh, gods, I’ve just had another one. Suppose I am about to die and this is my whole life passing in front of my eyes?”
I think perhaps you do not understand. People’s whole lives do pass in front of their eyes before they die. The process is called “living.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent [Death and Rincewind] (1999)
(Source)

Variants and paraphrases:

It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's called living.

It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.

Gide, André -- Treatise on Narcissus [Le Traité du Narcisse] (1891)

Dave — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 18:48:57 +0000

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.

André Gide (1869–1951) French author, Nobel laureate
Treatise on Narcissus [Le Traité du Narcisse] (1891)

WIST Quotations

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent [Death and Rincewind] (1999)

Gide, André -- Treatise on Narcissus [Le Traité du Narcisse] (1891)