Dedicated to Bro. William The Stoics saw death as a natural part of existence, not something to dread. Accepting the inevitability of death motivated them to live virtuous, purposeful lives. They contemplated death daily, appreciating life's simple beauties. The Epicureans saw death as irrelevant, for when one "is" death is not and when death occurs, one is no longer there. With the advent of Christianity, the concept of the art of dying was further developed through books consoling or attempted to console people who feared death in a time when life could be short and brutal: Ars Moriendi was also among the first books printed with movable type and was widely circulated in nearly 100 editions before 1500, in particular in Germany. The long version survives in about 300 manuscript versions, only one illustrated. Ars moriendi consists of six chapters: The first chapter explains that dying has a good side, and serves to console the dying man that dea...