Everyone dies. If you are the president of a country or just an ordinary citizen, one day you will stop breathing and rest forever. Death makes everyone equal by taking away your life and all the things you have. It is the most certain yet disturbing fact in the world.
      We can never predict when death comes, but we know it will. Although human civilization has changed tremendously over time, human beings remain scared of death.
      In the history of philosophy, there have been numerous attempts to relieve our unease about death. More than two thousand years ago, a Greek philosopher called Epicurus (341BC-270BC) boldly claimed that death is nothing to us.
      In Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus emphasizes good things bring us pleasure while bad things cause pain. For example, we like cold drinks in summer because they give us a pleasant feeling of coolness in contrast with the hot weather. And we consider bashing someone bad because it causes them pain.
      However, death is neither good nor bad. While we are alive, death has not yet come. When death comes, we are no longer able to feel anything. Death therefore will never cause you pain or pleasure, so how can we say it is good or bad? Why do we have to panic over something that doesn't matter to us?
      Epicurus' argument is quite straightforward but inspiring. Epicurus tries to deny any real influence of death on our life by completely separating the two. It may help those who do not believe in an afterlife to get rid of their fear of death.
      This has made things simpler, but does death really mean nothing to us at all?
      Unlike Epicurus, a dozen philosophers maintain death is indeed intimately related to the way that one leads his life. When people are aware of the fact that they could die any time, they became resolute in making their own choices. They know the limit of their life, and they don't want to regret anything they have done.