"Mitch,” he said, “the culture doesn’t encourage you to
think about such things until you’re about to die. We’re so
wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough
money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the
radiator when it breaks—we’re involved in trillions of little
acts just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of
standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all?
Is this all I want? Is something missing?"