Quotes / All Are Equal in Death

Film — Live-Action

It was in the reign of George III
That the aforesaid personages lived and quarelled;
Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor
They are all equal now

— Epilogue, Barry Lyndon

"The feet of a young ballet dancer, who ended her life when she lost her ambition. These legs... walked the streets. You remember the hooker who was killed in ER by her pimp last week? Think of all the bodies these legs have wrapped around. What was the value of her life, to end up being picked apart by the likes of Dr. Graves and his bumbling students? And here, the womb of the virgin, struck down before tasting the pleasures of life, you remember? Her skin, so soft, so warm, but so cold in death. The arms of the waitress. The lawyers hand - case dismissed. Look at this delicate piece, what do you think? A sculptress? A harpist? Would you believe, a murderess? But they're all equal now, nothing but cast off remnants of a meaningless existence."

— Dr. Herbert West, Bride of Re-Animator

"Look at their faces. They all look the same."

— Young Boy, Volcano

Literature

"All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath."

— Ecclesiastes 9:2, The Bible

OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame's eternal dumping ground.

— The Devil's Dictionary

"There is in the world a very aged rioter and demagogue who breaks into the most refined retreats with the dreadful information that all men are brothers, and wherever this leveller went on his pale horse it was Father Brown's trade to follow."

— The innocence of Father Brown: The queer feet

Music

Realization starts sinking in, not a matter of a crown or sin,
But a curse that you've been written in from the moment you began.
With no power over when or how, ultimatums mean much lesser now,
No one's status or cash cow could impede this kind of plan...

Oh, can't you see it's inevitable?

— Animal Sounds, "RED"

"All men are equal when their memory fades."

— Motörhead, "Deaf Forever"

Oh, the young, the rich or poor
All alike, me you know
No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul

— "O Death", a traditional American folk song

When they face death they're all alike
No right or wrong
Rich or poor
No matter who they served before
Good or bad
They're all the same
Rest side by side now...

— Sabaton, "A Lifetime of War"

Theatre

Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.

Hamlet

Video Games

"But ya know what? It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty... it's all the same once yer dead!"

— Eddie Dombrowski, Silent Hill 2

Webcomics

Sonia: There are two types of people in this world... those chosen to lead, and those fit only to serve: human refuse.
Hel: That is incorrect. When facing mortality, there is only one type of person... those who are powerless in death. Mortals who lead and mortals who serve are one and the same.

— Fire Emblem Heroes: A Day in the Life, "The Strongest Refutation"

Web Video

Beau: Sometimes justice can bring closure, Caduceus.
Caduceus: The only thing I've every found that brings closure is... when everyone's finally in the ground. In my experience.

— Critical Role

Western Animation

Emir: I demand reparation! My son was cruelly and unfairly taken from me!
Anubis: On the contrary. Death is the ultimate fairness. Rich and poor, young and old, all are equal in death. You would not like to see the Jackal God play favorites.

— Gargoyles

Miscellaneous

Boy: But what sort of man are you?
Death: They call me Death.
Boy: I will gladly drink with you. You are a good man, for you treat all alike, both rich and poor.

— "The Boy with the Ale Keg"

"I am looking for the bones of your father, but I cannot tell them apart from the bones of a slave."

— Diogenes of Sinope, while digging through a pile of human bones, to Alexander the Great

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

— Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

"You can be a king or a street sweeper,
but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper."

— Robert Alton Harris

"After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box."

— Italian proverb

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