“There is as much comfort in perfect disease as in perfect health, the mind always conforming to the condition of the body” –Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau had Tuberculosis and died at the age of 44 years.
I reflect on this statement during times when I come close to the pain and suffering of illness. I am humbled by Thoreau’s cultivation of a state of mind that could perceive disease as “perfect” and find “comfort” in it.
Thoreau came to terms with death long before it descended on him. Thoreau remarked, “When I was a very little boy, I learned that I must die, and I set that down, so of course, I am not disappointed now”. This is a deep insight, not just a statement of fact.
We all know we are going to die, but I wonder how many of us can show the acceptance Thoreau did when the time came?