Death always thinks of us eventually. The trick is to find the joy in the interim, and make good use of the days we have.
-- Ann Patchett (Essays Don't Die)

Importance: Throughout her introductory essay, "Essays Don't Die," Patchett considers the relationship between writing and death. After years of fearing that she would die while working on her unfinished novels, Patchett found solace in the essay form. She avers that essays are more impervious to death than fiction because they are based in fact and not the imagination. At the same time, Patchett remains aware that essays cannot ward off death forever. This awareness compels her to pay attention to the small beauties and joy in life. Her devotion to acknowledging competing truths at once carries throughout the essays to come. At the same time, these lines contribute to Patchett's overarching explorations concerning death.

But I was a writer and nothing else, and to miss seeing...
-- Ann Patchett (Three Fathers)