About this quote

Twain strips the fear of death down to a simple fact: nonexistence did no harm before you were born. That flips the worry into a question you can actually handle. Ask yourself what part of your fear is a story about the future and what part is a real present problem. Use that split to lower panic and focus on what you can change right now.

When to use it

• The night before my appendix surgery I kept repeating that line to stop imagining every worst-case scenario.
• When I had to tell my small team about budget cuts, I shared the line to get us laughing and then focus on the next practical steps.
• During finals week I said it to my study group so we could relax enough to actually learn.
• After I lost my job, a friend sent me the line and it helped me stop picturing my life as over and start planning the next month.